Just minutes before press time Wednesday night during a special called meeting, Fairfield County Council failed to elect a new administrator. After two tie (failed) votes, one for Matt DeWitt, and the second for Laura Johnson, Johnson will continue to be the interim administrator, and a new search should begin, according to Councilwoman Shirley Greene. Greene abstained from voting on Wednesday, causing the tie vote.
WINNSBORO – Hours after Fairfield County Interim Administrator Laura Johnson’s husband was named in incident reports filed by both the County Treasurer and a Fairfield County Councilwoman for what they considered threats and intimidating posts on his Facebook page and on other pages, County Council Chairman Douglas Pauley sent out an agenda announcing a special called meeting for the next day, Wednesday, Jan. 17, to elect a new permanent administrator.
Three applicants are being considered: current Interim Administrator Laura Johnson, Matt DeWhitt, former Administrator of the City of Newberry, and Frank Hart who served as Union County Supervisor.
The meeting comes after council discussed the three candidates for the position in executive session during their Jan. 8 meeting, with some council members expecting to vote that same evening following executive session. However, no vote was taken, and the vote was postponed until the January 22 regular meeting. Some council members told The Voice they were surprised to see the Tuesday agenda for the special called meeting on Wednesday.
With three members of council voicing support for current administrator Laura Johnson, the swing vote appears to be Shirley Greene, according to comments made by some council members.
Johnson, who has served a year as Interim Administrator, previously served a little over a year as assistant administrator before retiring in 2021. Prior to that, she served a number of years as the county’s finance director.
DeWitt has seven years’ experience as administrator of the City of Newberry, the previous four years as Assistant Administrator, and prior to that he served two years as Assistant to the City Manager and Director of Community and Economic Development.
Frank Hart served as Union County Supervisor from 2015 – 2022. He has owned Hart Insurance Agency from 2003 to the present.
Johnson was hired at the behest of Pauley in January 2023, under a six-month contract with an annual salary of $150,000, $10,000 more than the previous County Administrator who had 20 years’ experience as an administrator.
Johnson has been criticized by some council members and a number of citizens over her secrecy in writing hundreds of thousands of dollars in checks for IRS penalties and interest last May and June without notifying more than half the council members of the amounts or asking for authorization until six months later on Dec. 11, 2023; being late with the current annual audit; and other county matters, including her hiring and firing practices.
The special called meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the county council chambers in the Fairfield Government Complex, 250 N. Walnut Street in Winnsboro. The public is invited.
The vote on Wednesday evening will fall just hours after The Voice goes to press. It is expected that council will vote on candidates by number and announce the winner at the Jan. 22 council meeting.