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Tag: Fairfield County Council

  • State awards $30 million for internet

    More Than 1,000 Fairfield Homes to Receive Internet in Next 18 Months

    WINNSBORO – Act 175 aimed to plug Internet coverage gaps in South Carolina’s rural areas, including Fairfield County.

    While full coverage remains elusive a year later, the state has taken strides toward expanding and enhancing service, according to state officials.

    On Monday night, representatives from the state’s Office of Regulatory Staff outlined ways the agency has worked to improve online access, as well as other forms of communication.

    Internet Progress

    “There’s a lot of work that’s going to be happening in Fairfield County over the next 18 months,” said Jim Stritzinger, director of the state Office of Regulatory Staff’s broadband office” We hope your residents will be happy with that.”

    Gov. Henry McMaster signed Act 175 into law in October 2020. Part of the act included funding to provide grants to applicants to help subsidize qualifying broadband projects.

    But the law also has limitations. It merely says that the state or electric cooperative may take steps to enhance broadband service, but doesn’t mandate it.

    “This act does not convey or confer any implied or express grant of authority to an investor-owned electric utility to provide broadband facilities or broadband services,” the act states.

    In spite of the disclaimer, progress has been made.

    Stritzinger said about 3,000 people and a little more than 2,000 homes currently lack broadband service in Fairfield County.

    By October 2022, he anticipates those figures will fall to about 1,600 residents and 864 homes, largely due to $30 million in grants awarded in July.

    The ORS initiative operates in tandem with the S.C. Department in grants awarded in July.

    The ORS initiative operates in tandem with the S.C. Department of Commerce. While expanding broadband to ordinary residents is the primary goal, economic development is another incentive.

    “As a council member, you would want to target those areas to make sure you get them connected as rapidly as possible,” Stritzinger said.

    Federal grants will further close the internet connectivity gap.

    $3M USDA Grant

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently awarded $3 million to Fairfield County to enhance broadband service, which is in addition to the state investment.

    “We’re nowhere close to done in Fairfield County,” Stritzinger said. “The mission is … for all your residents to have service. We’re off to a really good start.”

    ORS representatives also talked about the agency’s equipment distribution program. The program provides no cost phone services for South Carolina residents facing speech or hearing challenges.

    With COVID-19 limiting human interaction, the program’s benefits become quite clear, said Casi Sims, a program coordinator with ORS.

    “During the pandemic, communication is very important, especially over the phone,” Sims said. “People are shut in their homes and it affects their quality of life.”

    Options include phones that amplify audio, phones with captioning (which converts audio to text), or an iPad.

    Sims said the devices are valuable educational tools, noting school speech pathologists utilize the devices.

    “The good thing about getting an iPad from our program is the student doesn’t have to turn it in at the end of the school year,” she said. “They can keep it and are progressing; they are not regressing over the summer.”

    Settling Hospital Debt

    In other business, after a lengthy executive session, the council voted to accept an offer from Fairfield Memorial Hospital to settle debts with the county. Of the $1.256 million the hospital owes the county, the board offered to pay the county $628,000.

    Council members voted 5-1 to approve, with Councilman Neil Robinson opposing. Councilman Mikel Trapp was absent.

    As early as April, some council members had hoped to strike a deal with the hospital board to settle debts for as much as $750,000.

    Before the vote, Council Chairman Moses Bell asked how much patient debt it forgave.

    Tim Mitchell, chief financial officer with the hospital, told council members that when the hospital was operating, it “wrote off $7 million dollars a year in patient debt.”

    Council Likely Violated FOIA

    The council also added a previously unpublished executive session item to the agenda for the purpose of receiving legal advice in the county’s ongoing lawsuit against Alliance Consulting Engineers, Wiley Easton Construction Company, and Employers Mutual Casualty Company.

    Filed in February 2020, the suit relates to work performed at the Fairfield Commerce Center.

    County attorney Charles Boykin asked to add the discussion item after saying he received new information about the case earlier in the day at 3:15 p.m.

    Jay Bender, an attorney with the S.C. Press Association, of which The Voice is a member, said the executive session likely violated the state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

    Bender said last minute agenda additions, including executive session items, are impermissible unless the council first votes to amend the agenda to include the agenda item by a supermajority vote which, on the seven-member Fairfield council, would be five votes.

    Only after that’s done can public bodies then vote to enter executive session to discuss the item that’s added, Bender said.

    No action was taken on the lawsuit discussion.

  • Critics: Roof repair ordinance full of pork

    Hoof & Paw President Outlines Desperate Needs of Animal Shelter

    • Randy Bright
    • Tony Armstrong
    • Kathy Faulk

    WINNSBORO – Critics of a recently approved $1.05 million capital improvements plan say the deal is loaded with pork.

    On Monday night, Fairfield County Council – by a slim 4-3 margin – approved final reading of the measure, which is being paid for from the county’s general fund.

    Council Chair Moses Bell and council members Tim Roseborough, Shirley Greene and Mikel Trapp voted in favor.

    Included in the deal are funds to conduct roof repairs to the S.C. Department of Health and Human Services building, repairs most council members and residents agree are needed.

    But the roof repairs were discussed during the budget meetings in the spring and it was a consensus that the repairs could wait another year.

    After complaints from residents on the western side of the county about Councilman Moses Bell’s Ridgeway district getting a $2.5 million recreation center the roof repairs showed up on the  July 26, 2021, agenda along with $500,000 from the general fund earmarked for the two mini parks.

    But critics say the bulk of expenses – for a new mini-park in Blackstock and upgrades to Willie Lee Robinson Park in Blair – are parochial in nature.

    Both mini-park projects are located in Council District 3, represented by Trapp, who couldn’t be reached for comment.

    Councilman Doug Pauley said that lumping the parks with needed HHS roof repairs was designed to ensure the park projects passed. He called the parks “a total waste of money” that ignore more pressing needs in the county.

    “The roof on the DHHS building was only added to this ordinance so that asking for the mini park and upgrades wouldn’t look so bad to taxpayers,” Pauley said.

    Community residents also took aim at the park plans during a public hearing that preceded Monday night’s vote.

    Winnsboro resident Thomas ‘Tony’ Armstrong questioned the wisdom behind the mini-park spending plan.

    “$1,050,000 to some is nothing, but to a lot of us it’s a lot,” Armstrong said. “We need to hold off and be more frugal with the taxpayers’ money.”

    Ridgeway resident Randy Bright called the ordinance “amateur hour,” noting the spending plan doesn’t even itemize park expenses.

    “We’ve combined two wants with one need, a need that should’ve been taken care of during [budget discussions],” Bright said.

    “If you vote for it, you’re voting for two unnecessary wants,” Bright continued. “But if you don’t vote for it, we’ve got a roof falling in. It just doesn’t make sense.”

    More Pressing Needs

    Bright and others thought it would make more sense to focus on the county animal shelter, which has some alarming needs.

    After starting in January with 155 animals, the shelter this year has taken in 848 cats and 636 dogs, greatly outpacing adoptions and owner reclaims, said Kathy Faulk, president of the Hoof and Paw Benevolent Society.

    Faulk didn’t specifically address the mini-park vote in her address, but was emphatic the county has some pressing needs – like a new animal shelter.

    To that end, she asked the county to form an animal welfare committee and also for each council member to visit the shelter to observe conditions there firsthand. She said the facility is comparable to what might have been 50 years ago.

    “This is a county building that should be funded by the county,” Faulk said. “This is a critical need.”

    Council members voiced general support for the shelter but did not commit to any of the Hoof and Paw requests.

    “I think that’s an idea we’ll have to research and really take a look at how we move forward on some of the suggestions you’ve made,” Councilwoman Shirley Greene said.

    Refinancing $24M Bond

    In other financial business, the county unanimously approved first reading of an ordinance to refinance over $20 million in debt. First reading was by title only so there was no discussion among council members. With interest, the debt is closer to $40 million

    The plan calls for applying $7.5 million in Dominion settlement funds toward paying down $23 million in debt the county accrued following the 2013 $24 million Fairfield Facilities Corporation bond. In addition, the plan calls for refinancing existing debt to a lower interest rate. 

    Both measures will trim annual debt payments by about $500,000 a year, or by $10.5 million through 2042, said Brent Robertson with Stifel Investment Services.

    Robertson attended along with Ray Jones representing Parker Poe.

    “Since the issuance of that debt, we find ourselves in a very favorable interest rate environment,” Robertson said.

  • New hurdles to Mt. Zion relocation

    WINNSBORO – During Monday night’s county council meeting, Council Chair Moses Bell called on several county officials to voice their concerns about plans to relocate the county’s administration operations into the newly renovated Mt. Zion building when it’s completed in October, 2021.

    Bell and Councilwoman Shirley Greene took the lead in voicing those concerns, stating repeatedly that the cost of the renovations to the county has now reached $10 million, up they said, from the initial $8.7 million.

    “That $8.7 million was adjusted to $8.9 million two years ago when council voted to add the teacherage to the project,” according to County Councilman Clarence Gilbert.

    “And the county’s costs are still at $8.9 million, I don’t know where they’re getting those amounts,” Rory Dowling, principal of 1st and Main (the developer), told The Voice on Tuesday, the day after the council meeting. “If they’re including the $900,000 state allotment for the 911 call center, or the [Dominion settlement’s] monument or museum, those are outside the county’s project. The county is only paying $8.9 million for the project.”

    “I think this project is on an extremely high budget,” the county’s newly hired consultant Ed Driggers told council Monday night.

    “You’re going to have cost overruns. Most of those cost overruns have already been approved. That was true with the 911 call center and the changes required to do that. You can’t reverse those types of things,” Driggers said. “Those decisions were made and you’ve moved forward. But they will have implications as you move forward,” he warned.

    Asked following the meeting whether the county’s costs were actually at $10 million, Driggers said he didn’t know.

    “Those are their (council’s) numbers, not mine,” Driggers said.

    Almost a million dollars of those cost overruns, however, were earmarked for the 911 call center’s relocation and upgrades that are state-mandated and state-funded and were not paid for out of the county’s general fund, according to Councilman Doug Pauley, during an interview following the meeting.

    “Those funds are restricted and could only be spent on upgrades for the call center whether the call center relocated to Mt. Zion or stayed in its current location,” Pauley said.

    Fairfield County Interim Administrator Brad Caulder called on Fairfield County Sheriff Will Montgomery to talk about his office’s concerns regarding relocating to the Mt. Zion campus.

    “We have some concerns about our offices being at Mt. Zion, mainly safety,” Montgomery said.

    “The windows are on ground level in the investigator’s office and in my office. So anytime the public is in these places somebody would be able to see them talking to us or could do some type of harm to them.

    “We also have 75 sex offenders who come to our offices every month to register and we’re going to have the rec building right next to our offices,” he said.

    “Another problem is space,” Montgomery said.

    He said the space is smaller than where they are now and that they have lots of training equipment they will need storage space for.

    Driggers added that another concern for Montgomery is that the space that was designated for the Sheriff’s office has since become smaller.

    After Montgomery spoke at the podium, Bell prompted him to lay blame on Taylor.

    “Did you bring these concerns forward with Mr. Taylor and others about the safety and space?” Bell asked.

    “The concerns were brought up day one when we started this project,” Montgomery said.

    Later in the meeting, Bell again prompted Montgomery.

    “I want to be clear,” Bell said. “I really need to be clear. You’re telling us that you shared all these concerns prior to when they started building?”

    “Absolutely,” Montgomery responded. “Everything but the windows.”

    Asked about Montgomery’s concerns, former County Councilman Jimmy Ray Douglas, who voted for the Mt. Zion renovation in 2018, said he never heard Montgomery express these concerns previously and that Montgomery never came before council with them that he could remember.

    Dowling told The Voice that he is not aware that any space designations for the Sheriff have been modified.

    “Their space has never changed. The Sheriff’s department approved the plans two years ago and we have never heard anything more from them or anyone else about their space changing,” Dowling said. “They have the entire first floor and about a third of the second floor. The 911 call center, which is separate from the Sheriff’s offices, is also on the second floor.”

    Former County Administrator Jason Taylor, too, told The Voice that he has not been made aware that the space for the Sheriff’s offices changed after he left the county in June.

    “I went over there with the Sheriff and went over everything about a week before I left,” Taylor said. “We had numerous meetings with all the departments and everyone was always encouraged to look at the plans and tell us how we could make it better. And we had a number of public meetings.”

    Asked by Pauley if he would prefer to relocate or stay in his current building, Montgomery said he would leave that up to the county to decide, but he added, “We’re comfortable where we are.”

    Caulder then called on Driggers to express his opinion about the Sheriff’s concerns.

    “Mr. Driggers has done a great job digging into the construction and contractual obligations of the Mt. Zion renovation,” Caulder said.

    “Mr. Bell, you do remember that you’re about to spend $3.5M on recreation that could be used for a new Sheriff’s building, right?

    — Douglas Pauley, Fairfield County Councilman

    “Talking with Mr. Caulder, I believe the most cost beneficial path for the county would be to allow the Sheriff to stay in his existing situation, to allow resources to be used for the building we are in now,” Driggers said. “For upfit of that, we have some engineering studies that have given us some costs on that.” He did not say what those costs are.

    Bell said another eleventh hour concern is parking.

    “What you (Driggers) told me is that we don’t have near enough parking,” Bell said.

    Asked about the parking, Dowling said that, based on the amount of parking they currently have, there is ample parking at the new facility.

    “And there’s still plenty of space for overflow parking,” Dowling said. “No one from the county has consulted us about this.”

    Bell continued expressing his dissatisfaction with the building.

    “The way you heat it, they got all them open glass windows, so you’re going to have heat and air blowing out the windows. I cannot understand,” Bell said, raising his voice, “why a Sheriff, elected county wide, would not have his voice listened to by the decision makers. It is beyond me to understand that. We’re at a cross roads. This is a bad situation.

    “This is beyond where we ought to be,” Bell continued, becoming emotional.

    He then read from the 2018 council minutes when council approved the Mt. Zion project.

    “‘He (Bell) feels we made a grave mistake,’” he quoted. “‘There are other builders who build new buildings with this type of financing. He said this is a bad mistake.’”

    “People talk about my decisions – that was one,” Bell said.

    “Mr. Bell,” Councilman Douglas Pauley addressed the chair. “You do remember that you’re about to spend $3.5 million on recreation that could be used for a new Sheriff’s building, right?”

    After a pause, Bell shot back, “Mr. Pauley, I’ve not directed any questions to you, and you’re not to direct any questions to me. And it ain’t $3.5 million. It’s $2.5 million. Get your facts straight,” Bell said.

    “What about the mini park?” Pauley asked. “That’s another $1 million, right?”

  • County hires $200/hour consultant to assist admin

    WINNSBORO – The County’s Human Resources Director Brad Caulder was hired last month by the majority 4 as the county’s interim administrator to replace former Fairfield County Administrator Jason Taylor. Last week Caulder hired a $200 per hour consult to assist him in his administrative duties.

    Ed Driggers

    Ed Driggers, a consultant with Parker Poe, will be paid for a minimum of 10 hours or $2,000 per week, which would total $8,000 per month or about $100,000 annually, just $25,000 under Caulder’s annual salary. Caulder said Driggers will likely work about 20 hours a week initially, which would total $16,000 per month or about $200,000 annually.

    Caulder said that after a while, he would expect Driggers hours to drop back to about 10 per week.

    A section of Driggers’ agreement with the county also provides for $40 per hour for any personnel that Driggers hires to work under him on any of the county’s projects.

    The consulting agreement also provides for both Driggers and anyone he should hire to work under him to be reimbursed for mileage and reasonable out-of-pocket expenses.

    The minimum cost to the county for Driggers ($100,000 annually) and Caulder ($125,000 annually) totals $225,000 annually.

    Caulder is under contract for six months.

    Top employees receiving extra pay

    Caulder also told The Voice that some of the county’s top level employees will receive extra pay for extra work. He would not say how much extra money they are receiving, who those employees are or whether the extra pay is temporary or permanent.

    After several top level employees, including Taylor, the town attorney, assistant county administrator, clerk to council, community development director, parks and recreation director and others were pushed out by the majority 4 or left voluntarily since the first of the year. Caulder said this has caused an extra load of work on the remaining employees.

    A search is underway for candidates for permanent county administrator. Other vacant jobs in the county right now include the clerk to council position, community development director, human resources director and a permanent parks and recreation director.

  • How will majority 4 spend $7.6M?

    WINNSBORO – Approximately $7.6 million is coming to Fairfield County this month from the Dominion settlement, and county council is looking at their options for how to spend it.

    According to the $99.5 million settlement agreement, which was finalized in May and resulted from the county’s lawsuit in relation to the failed nuclear plant project, the $7.6 million is earmarked to assist the county in paying down its bond obligations.

    Specifically, it’s aimed at the $24 million bond – primarily for infrastructure projects – that the county committed to in 2013, anticipating revenue that would’ve been generated by the new plant.

    What’s not specified, however, is exactly how the county must use the money in its debt repayment effort. There are several options.

    Make Bond Payments Directly

    One option would be to use the money directly to cover the county’s bond payments for the next five years, storing it in an account earmarked for that purpose.

    The idea behind this option would be to simply fill in the gap, anticipating that within the next five years the county will have enough revenue coming in from new industries developed in that time to then cover the payments going forward.

    Pay to Principal, Lower Millage

    Another option would be to put the lump sum toward the principal of the loan and refinance what remains, bringing the county’s annual bond payment down from $1.7 million to approximately $1.2 million.

    Because of how bond payments are structured in relation to tax millage, this would result in a corresponding reduction in property taxes, reducing the county’s property tax revenue by approximately half a million dollars annually going forward.

    Use for Current Financial Issues

    A third option – and this is one that Bell appears to have his eye on and that he says the council is seeking more information to consider – would be to continue to make bond payments in the current fashion but use the money from the settlement to reimburse the county for the payments, essentially freeing up money for other things he might want to use it for.

    This, he says, would help the county to deal with current pressing financial issues and other immediate priorities.

    For example, he says, the county needs to make up the difference between the $4.2 million committed to a needed courthouse renovation project and the $5.3 million the project is expected to cost. And county leaders need to have money on hand for economic development opportunities that may arise.

    “We’re trying to make sure we have every option that can be good for the council to consider, so that’s what we’re working on currently,” Bell says. “We’re going to try to decide what are the best options for us as a county, knowing the financial situation we’re currently in.”

    He says that while opinions may differ on what is the best course of action, whatever the council ultimately decides, he hopes everyone will get on board.

    The $7.6 million, while a large sum in relation to the county’s budget and debts, is a relatively small piece of the pie in the total settlement.

    The $99.5 million settlement, which was announced in May, came after four years of legal process and negotiation after South Carolina Electric & Gas (SC E&G) parent company SCANA Corporation failed to develop its two planned nuclear reactors in Fairfield County.

    After SCANA abruptly announced the abandonment of the $9 billion project in mid-2017, investigations revealed fraud and ultimately led to criminal charges – resulting in prison time and other penalties – for two executives, plus a $25 million civil fine for the company.

    The Fairfield County lawsuit was one of several faced by SCANA and Dominion, the Virginia-based energy giant that bought them out in early 2019.

    Fairfield County leaders have touted the settlement as a win-win for the county and Dominion, which provides electricity for much of the county through its existing plant and stands to gain additional customers from development.

    The biggest chunk of the settlement — $45.7 million – is earmarked for development of the county’s much-needed wastewater treatment plant, which is being built to accommodate both residential and industrial growth in the county.

    An additional $13.4 million is also earmarked for economic development projects: $6.5 million to grade an industrial mega-site, $3.2 million for grading at the Commerce Center, $1.8 million escrow for rate relief, and $2 million for a spec building at the Commerce Center.

    The three most controversial earmarks have been the $2.2 million for a teachers’ village, $2.5 million for a park and recreation center in Ridgeway, and $1 million for a Martin Luther King monument on the grounds of Mt. Zion. A $27.1 million chunk of the settlement is going to the attorneys assisting the county in the settlement.

  • Majority 4 send MLK monument to Mt. Zion

    Council Options Land for $2.5M Ridgeway Rec Center

    WINNSBORO – The majority 4 on Fairfield County Council – Moses Bell, Shirley Greene, Mikel Trapp and Tim Roseborough voted to support the erection of a monument to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the grounds of the renovated Mt. Zion property which will serve as the new county administration building.

    The four also voted to support the use of the teacherage, located behind the Mt. Zion building, as a museum memorializing African American heritage in the county.

    Prior to the vote, Councilman Neil Robinson expressed his constituents’ disappointment with the monument and the African American museum being situated on the Mt. Zion grounds.

    “When I was chair, a consideration was to offset the [confederate] monument with a possible Dr. Martin Luther King monument,” Robinson said. “I formed an ad hoc committee, but I received information from the NAACP and members of the community that that was not what they wanted. So as my constituents didn’t want it over there, I’ll be voting no.”

    And he did, along with councilmen Clarence Gilbert and Douglas Pauley in a 4-3 vote.

    Speaker Randy Bright pointed out to Chairman Bell that the ordinance was miswritten to leave the option open for a similar historic figure for the monument. But Bright said the settlement agreement specifies Martin Luther King for the monument.

    The 4 option land in RW

    Bell, Trapp, Greene and Roseborough were again the deciding factor in a 4-3 vote to pass a resolution to option two one-acre parcels in Ridgeway for a new $2.5M recreation center.

    Councilmen Gilbert, Pauley and Robinson voted against.

    The $2.5M was designated in the Dominion lawsuit settlement last month for the recreation center that council chairman Moses Bell has sought for Ridgeway since being elected to council three years ago.

    Recruiting administrator

    During executive session, council discussed the selection of an executive recruiting consultant to search for a county administrator to replace Jason Taylor who will be taking the Town Manager position for the Town of Winnsboro.

    Following executive session, council voted 5-2 to authorize Chairman Bell and Vice-Chair Greene to handle interviewing of candidates for the position of county administrator and to bring a recommendation back to full council to select a firm.

  • Caulder accepts position of Fairfield interim admin

    Caulder to Receive Annual Salary of $125K for up to 6 months

    WINNSBORO – The majority 4 on Fairfield County Council voted Thursday, June 3, to hire Brad Caulder, their sixth choice, for interim administrator. The vote came following a five minute executive session during a special called meeting. Caulder is the county’s director of Human Resources. He did not attend the meeting.

    Caulder

    The Voice obtained a copy of Caulder’s contract with the county through a Freedom of Information request. The contract, which takes effect June 7, calls for Caulder to serve as interim administrator on a month to month basis, up to six months, and receive a base annual salary of $125,000.

    Caulder said in an interview with The Voice, that he would continue to work in his office in the Human Resources department during his time as interim admin and would not be moving into Former County Administrator Jason Taylor’s office.

    A stand for Johnson

    Before the vote for Caulder, Councilman Neil Robinson made a motion to hire Fairfield’s assistant county administrator Laura Johnson as the interim administrator.

    “I think we’re at a stage right now…I believe she’s the one to carry the torch forward,” Robinson said. Following the meeting, Robinson cited Johnson’s years of experience with the county and her overall role and expertise in assisting Taylor run the county for the last two years.

    Johnson, a CPA and former finance director of the county, retired Friday, June 4, the last full day Taylor said he would be in the county offices before moving into the town manager’s job at the Town of Winnsboro.

    Johnson and Taylor are two of several top county officials who were pushed out by the majority 4 since January.

    Council voted 3-4 against hiring Johnson, with the majority 4 – Moses Bell, Mikel Trapp, Tim Roseborough and Shirley Greene – voting against. Council members Robinson, Douglas Pauley and Clarence Gilbert voted for Johnson.

    After Trapp made the motion to hire Caulder, Pauley proposed an amendment to the motion.

    That amendment called for Caulder’s appointment to be for no more than a three-month period and for Caulder to be allowed to transfer back into the role of Human Resources Director following the three months.

    Pauley said following the meeting that he, Gilbert and Robinson hoped such an amendment would protect Caulder’s job until he gets back to it.

    Alluding to the majority 4’s penchant for government secrecy, Pauley also stipulated in his motion that, during the period Fairfield County has an interim administrator, any communications initiated to the interim administrator by a member of Council, including the Chair and Vice Chair, be in email format, and that all other Council members be copied on the email.

     “While I am hesitant to hire someone for the position of interim administrator who does not have extensive local government organization leadership experience,” Pauley said, “we need to do what is best for Fairfield County right now and we need to have an interim administrator by tomorrow according to state law. I think the best we can do tonight, considering the circumstances, is to hire a person we know to be intelligent and ethical. I believe Mr. Caulder to be both,” Pauley said.

    Pauley said the focus must now be shifted to hiring an eminently qualified permanent administrator.

    “We have no time to waste in doing that. I think three months is a reasonable timeline,” Pauley said. He called for stability and for no individual council members to attempt to micro-manage the interim administrator.

    “If this amendment passes, I will vote to appoint Mr. Caulder as the interim administrator. If the amendment fails, I will not be able to vote in favor of the appointment,” Pauley said.

    The amendment failed 3-4 with Pauley, Robinson and Gilbert voting for the amendment. Bell, Trapp, Roseborough and Greene voted against.

    Council authorized Bell and the county attorney, Charles Boykin, to negotiate a contract with Caulder.

    Bell said Caulder has experience in human resources and public works.

    “What we’re doing tonight is a very innovative approach,” Bell said. “We believe this move will allow us to gain more depth in our organization, and it creates a significant alternative long term.”

    No one will be hired to carry out Caulder’s duties in human resources while he serves as interim administrator.

    Following the meeting, Caulder said in a phone interview with The Voice, “We will work as a team to continue to provide services for the citizens.”

    Squirewell retreats

    Michael Squirewell, a candidate interviewed on June 1 at the same meeting Caulder was interviewed for the Fairfield County’s interim administrator’s job, notified Council Chairman Moses Bell in an email on June 2 that he was withdrawing his name from consideration for the position.

    Squirewell spoke with The Voice to confirm that he is no longer a candidate for the job.

    “Upon arrival for the interview [Tuesday evening], I was informed by a council member that you had decided who you were going to hire before the interview began,” Squirewell wrote in the email to Bell.

    In an interview with The Voice, Squirewell said that while he appreciated that council was going to continue to interview him tonight, he would have appreciated it more had he received prior notice that he was out of the running.

    Squirewell told The Voice that he was under the impression that he was seriously being considered and did not know that council had interviewed another candidate after he (Squirewell) left the interview.

    Caulder was interviewed in executive session separate from Squirewell on Tuesday night, according to sources and was subsequently hired on June 3. Bell was reached for comment, but said he couldn’t talk at the time, but would call back. At press time, he had not returned the call.

  • Fairfield’s 4th interim admin choice out; Caulder, Squirewell up next

    • Caulder
    • Squirewell

    WINNSBORO – Time’s almost up for Fairfield County to designate an interim or permanent administrator before running afoul of state law.

    In spite of four failed attempts in as many weeks to seat an interim administrator, the county’s top elected official asserted Tuesday night that one would be confirmed by Thursday evening, June 3.

    At the special meeting called on Tuesday night, council was set to discuss the fourth candidate. Council Chair Moses Bell emailed council members Tuesday morning that the candidate would be David L. Rawlinson, an upstate educator for more than thirty years. There was no mention in the email that Rawlinson had government experience.

    By mid-afternoon the same day, The Voice learned that Rawlinson had declined the job offer, citing turmoil on council, and that Bell had put forth two other names for consideration at the evening meeting – Michael Squirewell, a home builder who lives in Ridgeway, and Brad Caulder, the county’s human resources director.

    Both men were interviewed in executive session for more than an hour, but council took no action on selecting either of them.

    Bell told The Voice following the meeting that he anticipated interviews will resume during a special meeting tentatively planned for Thursday, June 3, at 5:30 p.m.

    Asked if council would continue the selection process with Squirewell and Caulder or interview another candidate, Bell said he didn’t think a new candidate would be considered at this point.

    Rawlinson’s candidacy for the interim position was preceded by three other failed considerations for the job. The first candidate, a former Richland County government official, didn’t make it to the vote before he was dropped from consideration because of reports linking him to sexual harassment in the workplace at Richland County. The second candidate, educator Jim Rex, dropped out the day after council voted to approve him for the position, citing turmoil on council. The third candidate, former Richland County administrator Gerald Seals, said his offer for the position was withdrawn by Bell the day following the vote. It was formally withdrawn by council four days later.

    Fairfield County has until the end of business Friday, June 4 to appoint an interim administrator to comply with state law.

    It was only three weeks ago that Bell issued an RFP for a search firm to advertise and bring candidates to the county for the administrator job. After securing a firm to search for qualified candidates, Jason Taylor, the current county administrator, said it could take as much as six months to fill the position.

    Section 4-9-620 of state law states the following: “The council shall employ an administrator who shall be the administrative head of the county government and shall be responsible for the administration of all the departments of the county government which the council has the authority to control.”

    Taylor and Laura Johnson, the county’s assistant county administrator, are both leaving their posts June 4.

    Tim Winslow, executive director of the S.C. Association of Counties, said the county could merely designate an interim administrator by council vote while continuing to search for a full-time administrator, noting that’s how Pickens County proceeded with a recent vacancy.

    Numerous top-level employees have departed Fairfield County in the wake of the November general elections, which saw a dramatic shift in the council’s balance of power. The council now routinely votes 4-3 on most issues of consequence, including votes on appointing an interim administrator.

    In light of the fact that the county will have neither a county administrator nor an assistant administrator after Taylor and Johnson depart the county offices on Friday, council members voted 5-0 to give Anne Bass, the county’s finance director, signature authority for county checks. Council members Doug Pauley and Mikel Trapp were absent for the vote.

    The vote is contingent on the county confirming the legality of giving Bass that authority.

  • Fourth candidate for interim administrator pulls out, two more being considered

    WINNSBORO – A special meeting of Fairfield County Council was called for 6 p.m., Tuesday, June 1, for the purpose of discussing a candidate for the position of interim county administrator. Council members had been told in a Tuesday morning email from Council Chairman Moses Bell that they would be interviewing educator David L. Rawlinson. But Rawlinson backed out of the offer midday on Tuesday, hours prior to the meeting, citing the current turmoil on council, according to Bell.

    Instead, Ridgeway builder Michael Squirewell and Director of Human Resources for the county, Brad Caulder, were presented to council members during executive session for consideration for the interim county administrator position.

    No decision was made on either candidate and the meeting was adjourned.

    Bell said in an interview with The Voice following the meeting that the two candidates are expected to be interviewed further during another special called meeting Thursday night at 5:30 p.m.

    Rawlinson was the fourth candidate in as many weeks that was considered by council for the interim administrator position. The first candidate, a former Richland County government official, didn’t make it to the vote before he was dropped from consideration because of reports linking him to sexual harassment in the workplace at Richland County. The second candidate, educator Jim Rex, dropped out the day after council voted to approve him for the position, also citing turmoil on council. The third candidate, former Richland County administrator, Gerald Seals, reportedly had his offer for the position withdrawn by Bell the day following the vote and withdrawn formally by council four days later.

    The county is at risk of violating state law if an interim or permanent administrator isn’t installed by Friday, June 4. Both County Administrator Jason Taylor and Assistant Administrator Laura Johnson have resigned their positions effective on that date.

    For more information about the candidate search see the Thursday, June 3 issue of The Voice.

  • Council hires former Richland County Administrator Gerald Seals as interim administrator

    WINNSBORO – During a special called meeting Thursday evening, Fairfield County Council voted to hire former Richland County Administrator Gerald Seals as interim administrator for Fairfield.  Current Fairfield County Administrator Jason Taylor will be leaving the county on June 5 to assume the duties of Town Manager for the Town of Winnsboro.

    Seals

    Seals served as county administrator for Richland County, making headlines when the county fired him in May, 2018 in a close 6-5 vote. He walked away with a $1 million settlement and resumed teaching at Newberry College where he had taught previously. He served as administrator for Greenville County prior to coming to Richland.

    Following the 4-2 vote to hire Seals, Councilman Mikel Trapp moved for Bell and town attorney Charles Boyken to negotiate a contract with Seals.

    Councilman Neil Robinson’s requested that all council members be allowed to review the contract before it is signed.

    “If the salary goes above what we talked about,” Bell said, otherwise dismissing Robinson’s request.

    “I would still like council to be able to review the document, Mr. Chair.” Robinson said.

    Again dismissing Robinson, Bell called for the vote on the negotiation of the contract, which also ended 4-2.

    Seals thanked council for their confidence in him.

    “The council has expressed itself, so for the next four to five months I’ll work with them and try to understand their priorities and vision,” Seals told The Voice following the meeting. “Our job is to make that vision come alive.”

    Seals also serves as pastor of the Living Word Church and Fellowship in Northeast Richland County.

    He is the third candidate the majority four on county council has considered for the interim job. Three weeks ago, Bell called an executive session to discuss hiring a former City of Columbia official who, it was learned, left the City after he was accused of sexual harassment. When that information was revealed to council, the majority four declined to move forward with a vote.

    Last week, the majority four voted 4-3 to offer the interim job to former State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex. However, Rex turned down the offer on Tuesday, saying the deeply divided vote as well as the current turmoil in the county government made the job ‘not a good fit for me.’

    The county has issue an RFP for a firm to search for a suitable permanent administrator. The process to find a replacement for Taylor is expected to take five to six months.

    Seals said he was not sure when he will start work as interim administrator, that it would be up to council.