County Council’s annual workshop was held Feb. 28 at the Midlands Tech Campus in Northeast Columbia. Here are our general perspectives on the meeting.
The Good
The meeting was held without the interference of a high-priced outside moderator.
Interim Administrator Killian proved to be a well-spring of quality experience and reason, including a comment that EMS is a needed service the county is mandated to provide. He believes the county must directly provide the service and not rely solely on private entities, although private entities could supplement the county’s service capability.
Kudos to councilmen Gilbert, Greene, and Swearingen for attending the entire meeting.
The Bad
The meeting could have and should have been held at the closer and more accommodating meeting room at the Midlands Tech College Campus in Winnsboro rather than in N.E. Columbia for many obvious reasons.
The Ugly
Chairman Douglas Pauley spent too much time reiterating his excuses for 1) not allowing citizens a second public speaking session as is called for in the council’s by-laws, and 2) not permitting citizen comments on meeting videos.
Next, we will highlight the topics that council discussed during the workshop.
FOIA Process and Procedures
Kent Lesene, director of governmental affairs for the South Carolina Association of Counties, began his presentation by clearly stating that there is an “expectation of Council that citizens know what is going on.”
Regarding Council executive sessions, Lesene says SC law is very specific about what can and can’t be covered, and that the Chairman must announce the reason Council is going into Executive Session. No votes are allowed in Executive Session, nor can there be any kind of agreement on how council members will vote on an issue when they come out of executive session.
While the county has announced that it is considering an FOIA fee structure and a standard required FOIA fee form, Lesene noted that FOIA requests must be in writing, but do not need to be on an official form; they could be written on a napkin, he said.
Review of Bylaws
A complete bylaw review and rewrite is in order, according to Interim Administrator Clay Killian. He said there are currently too many loopholes and vague guidelines. Many citizens and a previous administrator agree.
We hope that defined spending limits and controls on non-budgeted expenditures will be added to the county bylaws soon.
Council members are to send suggested revisions to Killian/Pauley. We suggest citizens review the by-laws and send any comments to your District council member.
Mr. Killian will look into a council member suggestion that citizens be limited to speak at only one of the two Public Comment sections in the regular meeting agenda.
A discussion regarding employee grievances occurred during this agenda item, and Mr. Killian emphasized that grievances stop with the Administrator and not with Council. The Administrator can overrule a grievance committee recommendation, except when the department head is an elected official.
Council recognizes the standing committee system is broken… one council member did not realize she is on one of council’s three standing committees, which makes it understandable that she also did not know she is the chair of another standing committee.
Standing Council Committee Broken
Council recognizes the standing committee system is broken. For example, one council member did not realize she is on one of the council’s three standing committees, which makes it understandable that she also did not know she is the chair of another of the standing committee.
The county administrator has vowed to specifically define for council members, their committee duties, meeting schedules, and organization.
Comprehensive Plan/Land Ordinance
Gregory Sprouse gave a high-level overview of the comprehensive plan, and the key themes including support for existing and future population, considering the county’s decreasing population and increasing age of the population. The final land use plan will not be completed until the comprehensive plan is approved because zoning is a mirror of the goals for zoning.
One recommendation made by Sprouse was to complete a county-wide housing study, and that is already underway.
Upcoming Budget Process
The fiscal year 2025 budget planning schedule was announced as follows:
- March 1: department operational, capital and personnel requests submitted
- March 8: review by Administrator Killian
- March 8-31: discussions with administrator and department heads
- April 8: first reading, title only
- April & May: budget work sessions (three planned in late afternoons)
- May 13: second reading and public hearing
- June 3: third and final reading
Economic Development
Economic Development Director Ann Broadwater gave a limited overview of the mega site status and said three videos of the site exist on the LocateSC website: www.locatesc.sccommerce.com.
There was no mention of the county’s continuing three-year economic development draught.
Human Resources/Finance Departments
A complete review of employee data is scheduled to correct the many Obamacare-eligibility errors that led to the costly IRS fines. The Human Resources Department, rather than the Finance Department, will be in charge of all medical related compliance issues going forward. A two-week fulltime effort was needed to correct many errors in the employee database used to transmit information to the IRS on 1094 forms, which was a key contributor to the $1.4 million in IRS penalties.
Human Resources Director Mary Smyrl discussed a salary and wage study completed by consultant Management Advisory Group International using salary information from 19 entities. She said approximately 60% of county employees are below the minimum salary range for comparable positions, and a two-tiered approach was suggested to begin closing the gap at a cost of about $900k in annual salary payouts.
Smyrl also suggested the county needs to increase the number of sick and personal days from 12 to 15 because employees increasingly value time off.
An employee handbook is also being developed, in response to difficulty in finding HR policies online. It’s surprising that such a large organization doesn’t already have such a handbook.
Finance Director Beverly Mozie provided a very basic review of several financial reports, explaining the various columns of information but providing no analysis of actual numbers, areas of financial concern, or opportunity. Mozie did not offer any information about the county’s financial conditions and council showed no curiosity concerning those conditions.
Audit Update
The annual audit draft report has been received and is scheduled to be finalized by March 11.
Courthouse Update
The Courthouse renovation is about a year from completion. The final Phase 3 is underway, which will include asbestos abatement and electrical upgrades.
Meanwhile, there are many planned temporary moves of staff to nearby empty buildings during this last phase of construction. The Treasurer, Assessor and Tax Collector will temporarily move to the former Planning & Zoning building, and Auditor will move to the former Behavioral Health building. Moves should be completed by March 31.
Sale of County Buildings
Council continues to research both selling and demolition of the former administration building. Chairman Pauley is hesitant to sell the property because, he says, it is located between two churches and control of the property would be relinquished.
That should not be the case. Proper zoning and covenants should prevent any such issues.
Workshop Meeting Value
Of course, the end value of this meeting will be measured by the results manifested by the county’s execution of its commitments conveyed in the workshop.
Guest Editorial by Randy Bright, Ridgeway, and Don Goldbach, Lake Wateree.