Blythewood Town Councilman Bob Massa mulls a decision at a recent meeting.
BLYTHEWOOD – Town Council opened with the announcement of several appointments and resignations, not the least of which was the resignation of Councilman Bob Massa, effective June 30.
Massa told Council members that he and his wife, Theresa, will be moving to Seneca to be nearer his son’s family. Massa is in his second year on Council and, with his expertise and experience as a CPA, former auditor and retired Finance Director for the City of Forest Acres, has been a major force in righting the town’s fiscal ship since being elected to office in 2014. Massa previously served the town in appointed positions on several boards including the Town’s Planning Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals, both of which he served as Chairman.
Mayor J. Michael Ross said the Town would not hold a special election but would wait until the next November to elect a new Councilman.
Council voted to hire Melissa Cowan to replace Town Clerk Beverly Colley who was recently married and will be moving to Seattle, Wash. with her husband. Cowan was one of 35 applicants for the position and is currently the municipal clerk for South Congaree and previously held that position for Eastover. She starts work Monday. The municipal clerk is one of three positions that must, by statute, be hired by Council. The other two are the town administrator and the town attorney.
It was also announced that Steve Hasterok has been hired to replace Booth Chilcutt as Director of Events for The Manor and assumed those duties last Monday. Hasterok told Council that he has a business background from the private side, with the last 18 years in health care management including the position of Director of Continuing Medical Education for USC and Palmetto Mental Health for 13 years. After presenting his monthly report on The Manor, Chilcutt was praised by Ross for beginning to pull The Manor out of the financial mire it was in when Chilcutt took the job as Director last year.
“We got our financials today for March 2015,” Ross said, “and we had the highest monthly revenue for The Manor for this fiscal year. We had a profit of $4,367.97.”
The audience applauded and, with that, Chilcutt turned to Hasterok and joked that he might just stay on.
