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The widening controversy over ’s dubious development connections took another dramatic turn this week after Oconee County Council chairman Matthew Durham – who has been spearheading the push for accountability and transparency related to this scandal – dropped another bombshell.
On Tuesday afternoon (October 28, 2025), Durham published new information tying Clemson leadership, United Homes Group (UHG) executives and Oconee county officials to a previously undisclosed trip on a private plane — one he said “raises serious questions about public trust.”
In a detailed post entitled Private Jet, Public Trust, and a Change in Oconee Leadership, Durham revealed Clemson University leaders, UHG executives, a county official and several local real estate developers flew together on a private jet registered to the development corporation’s address for a trip to Purdue University on January 18, 2024.
The purpose of the visit, according to Durham, was to tour a university-affiliated research park and mixed-use development model — one participants allegedly hoped to replicate at the controversial 5200-unit Newry Mill development site in Oconee County.
The passenger manifest for the Purdue trip — obtained by Durham through internal communications — reportedly included Clemson University’s chief financial officer Rick Petillo, senior vice president for research Tanju Karanfil, and director of land and capital asset stewardship Laura Stoner. It also included several UHG and Great Southern Homes executives, including company founder Michael Nieri (a Clemson mega-donor), , and John West.
Hart, incidentally, is a former chief operating officer for the NFL’s – and was president of GT Real Estate Holdings, the company behind Panthers’ owner David Tepper’s abandoned bid to bring the team’s headquarters and practice facility to the Palmetto State.
County administrator Amanda Brock was also listed among the passengers, though Durham said she later designated a staff member to attend in her place. He contends council was never informed of the trip — not before, not during, and not after — and that when asked directly about all prior contact between UHG and the county, Brock “failed to disclose key information.”
Durham said he first learned of the flight by chance, during a conversation with a county employee at a local Oktoberfest luncheon earlier this month.
“It’s always been United Homes Group,” he quoted the employee as saying. “That’s who went up there with Clemson University.”
He later obtained text messages and a copy of the flight itinerary, confirming the group flew to West Lafayette, Indiana, to tour Purdue’s — a mixed-use research and development hub often cited as a model for university-driven innovation districts.
“When public institutions appear to align too closely with private developers,” Durham wrote, “it raises fair questions about transparency, accountability, and where the public interest ends and private influence begins.”
The revelation about Brock’s alleged “failure to disclose” follows closely on the heels of her sudden two-week paid administrative leave, which FITSNews reported last week. At the time, Oconee County officials offered no explanation for the move, though multiple closed-door executive sessions hinted at growing internal tensions.
In his post, Durham confirmed that following the discovery of the Purdue trip, Brock and the county mutually agreed “a leadership change was in the best interest of Oconee County.”
According to Durham, Brock told council members she had forgotten about the trip, but text messages reviewed by council appeared to contradict that claim — including a thread which showed she had received thirty photos documenting the visit.
Durham said he had tasked Brock with identifying when UHG first made contact with the county. She reportedly told council that records showed initial communication in October 2024, but the Purdue trip — and an earlier October 2023 site visit to York County involving UHG representatives — appear to predate that timeline by several months.
“We find it difficult to believe that anyone would forget being booked to fly on a private jet with that cast of individuals,” Durham wrote. “Trust has been broken.”
Longtime Parks, Recreation, and Tourism director Phil Shirley has since been named interim county administrator while a full search begins.
The revelation about the Purdue trip comes amid mounting scrutiny over Clemson University’s relationship with UHG, a Columbia-based homebuilding conglomerate now facing shareholder investigations following the mass resignation of its board earlier this month.
As FITSNews previously reported, Clemson president James P. Clements and former governor Nikki Haley — one of the school’s unconstitutional lifetime trustees — both resigned from UHG’s board on October 19, just days before Oconee County sent letters demanding transparency about the Newry development.
Durham’s post draws a direct line between those corporate ties and the local controversy.
“That flight — and who was on that plane — confirms that coordination between Clemson University and United Homes Group has existed from the very beginning of this project,” he wrote.
That stands in direct contravention to Clemson’s carefully worded denials…
In closing, Durham reiterated his call for Senate president Thomas Alexander to refer the matter to the Senate Oversight Committee, saying the public deserves an independent investigation into “the relationships and overlapping interests between Clemson University, United Homes Group, and the development activity surrounding the greater Clemson area.”
As a private investigator turned journalist, Jenn Wood brings a unique skill set to FITSNews as its research director. Known for her meticulous sourcing and victim-centered approach, she helps shape the newsroom’s most complex investigative stories while producing the FITSFiles and Cheer Incorporated podcasts. Jenn lives in South Carolina with her family, where her work continues to spotlight truth, accountability, and justice.
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