Amendment Limits Hiring to Budgeted Positions
BLYTHEWOOD – Last fall, Blythewood Mayor Sloan Griffin unilaterally hired two town hall employees – a $90,000/year Deputy Town Administrator and a $57,000/year Social Media Specialist – both hired without council’s knowledge or approval. However, salaries for those positions were not funded.
Last week, council pushed back by amending the Town’s budget ordinance so as to restrict the positions of Town employees to those funded in the budget by the town council.
At a special called meeting on Dec. 27, council voted 4 – 1 to pass the budget amendment. Griffin voted against it.
The vote eliminated several employment positions, four of which had been authorized in the FY 2024-25 budget by council but were never filled – Assistant Town Administrator, Human Resources Specialist, Economic Development/Annex Coordinator, and Administrative Assistant – and two positions which were not authorized in the budget but created and filled by Griffin without consulting council. Those two positions are the Deputy Town Administrator position that Griffin created and hired Tiffany Cooks to fill and the Social Media Specialist position that he hired Robert Kelly for.
After it was reported in The Voice that Cooks is under criminal investigation by SLED (the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division), she walked away from the Deputy Administrator position before she ever came to work for the Town. Kelly, the Social Media Specialist, remained in his position with pay until the funding for that position was eliminated at the Dec. 27 special called council meeting.
After Cooks did not pursue her position, Griffin issued a statement defending her hiring, and chastising council and the media for her decision to back away from the job.
“Dr. Cooks, along with her family, friends, and church family, has endured unwarranted suffering due to claims made by certain members of the Council and the media,” said Mayor Griffin. “These baseless accusations—made in connection to a Williamsburg County request for SLED to investigate a claim—have created an atmosphere of judgment and speculation. This type of rhetoric jeopardizes reputations and threatens livelihoods, potentially causing individuals to lose their jobs and their ability to care for their families.”
The press release went on to say that “Mayor Griffin expressed his concern and disappointment over the actions of some members of the Town Council and the local media, whose unfounded claims have caused unnecessary harm.” Griffin did not say what claims had been made that were unfounded.
Prior to the vote at the Dec. 27 special called meeting, Griffin called Kelly to the microphone.
“I will give him a moment to address council on his position before they vote to defund his position,” Griffin said.
Kelly pleaded for his job to be spared, asking the council to support his work on the Town’s social media platform, and expressed that he needed the job to support his family.
Councilwoman Andrea Fripp blamed Griffin for putting council members in the situation of having to defund an employee.
“We’re here tonight because it’s an opportunity to hold this mayor accountable,” Fripp said. “Had we gotten Mr. Kelly’s position justification prior to some of the decisions that were made, we may or may not have even been here. The mayor has what I call a bully pulpit. He gets to set the narrative. He gets to have a press release in the newspaper that bashes the council for what I believe are his own actions,” Fripp said. “I believe we are being placed in situations like this. I don’t know that council is to blame.
“I think our mayor is operating as an administration of one,” Fripp said. “If this is the only [way] we have to put checks and balances in place, then unfortunately, there is going to be damage to people. I think the narrative being put out is that this council is doing things to damage people’s reputations and things like that.
“Mr. Mayor, you did that.” Fripp said. “In all due respect, I told you several times that you are hell bent on proving that you are the strong mayor in an already strong mayor form of government. You send us threatening emails – mandatory emails.
“We don’t work for you,” Fripp said. “We’re not staff, and you send us third hand communications… you talk about playing politics; you’re the one playing politics that affect these people’s livelihood. I hate that you have put council in this position.”
“If using the words ‘mandatory meeting’ makes you feel some way, then this might not be the calling for you,” Griffin shot back. “I get mandatory emails every day.”
Griffin further defended himself against criticism that he failed to communicate about hiring employees and for issuing mandatory emails by tying the two together, saying he had to monitor communications.
“Yes, I have to monitor communications when claims are made that someone is not communicating,” Griffin responded.
“That email you’re talking about is in response to the claim that the mayor doesn’t communicate,” Griffin said.
The Voice obtained the following email that Griffin sent council members on Dec. 16:
“To address allegations regarding communications from the Mayor’s Office to council members, I’m implementing mandatory weekly meetings between each council member and myself.
“These meetings will occur during regular business hours and can be in-person, via phone, or via Zoom. Please note that text messages will not be a form of communication for these meetings. To maintain transparency, all communications will be documented appropriately, including failed attempts to connect or unreturned messages.
“To facilitate scheduling, each member must coordinate with Ms. Durst by close of business (COB) every Monday, starting December 9, 2024, to request your preferred date and time for that week. As a reminder, all members will receive an email every Friday prompting you to schedule your meeting by Monday COB.”
Griffin told Council members that he talks to former and current mayors around the state who are in the same form of government [as Blythewood’s].
“Sloan Griffin does not make decisions without talking to other people who are or were in this position,” Griffin said.
“Mr. Mayor, you may not make decisions without talking to people, but my push back to that is that you are not talking to the council before you make these decisions which has driven us to this point where we are today,” Councilman Rich McKenrick said. “Council did not know you were hiring a second Social Media Specialist.”
While a strong mayor can hire employees, according to Title III, Sec 30.20 (A)(3) of the Blythewood Town Ordinance, “council shall …appropriate funds and adopt a budget” for employee positions.
The budget amendment that was passed Dec. 27, provides that only those fulltime employee positions listed in the budget will be funded. The approved funding for Town Hall employees is now limited to: Town Administrator (Daniel Stines) $107,000; Town Clerk (Sharon Durst) $65,904; Finance/HR Manager (Julie Emory) $81,775; Marketing Manager (Jordan Langland) $49,949; and three part time interns, $7,200.
Minor adjustments were also made for some Manor employees and in some line items.
Reductions in salaries amounting to $242,478, amended the budget line to $335,694. The amount reduced will be moved to a contingency fund.