BLYTHEWOOD – Friday, Feb 21 has been set for Judge Daniel Coble to hear a motion for an injunction filed by the Town of Blythewood against Blythewood Mayor Sloan Griffin.
In a Motion for Injunction filed Feb. 11 with the Richland County Court of Common Pleas, four Blythewood Town Council members asked the Court to move for a temporary and permanent injunction against Griffin.
The four council members who filed the lawsuit, Mayor Pro Tem Donald Brock, Councilman Rich McKenrick and Councilwomen Andrea Fripp and Erica Page, as well as Griffin, have been notified to be present at 9:30 a.m. in the Court of Common Pleas in the Richland County Courthouse.
In particular, the motion states, the plaintiffs seek a ruling of the court compelling the defendant, Griffin, to maintain the status quo and not hire additional employees whose positions have not been funded or authorized by the town council.
The Town [the four council members] are being represented by Attorney James Edward Bradley, with the Moore, Bradley, Myers law firm in West Columbia.
Griffin has told The Voice that he has not retained legal representation and doesn’t plan to.
In a letter to Judge Daniel Coble, Bradley stated that the dispute regards the municipal authority of the mayor in ultra vires acts – acts that require legal authority but are done without it. Bradley seeks a declaration of the powers of the mayor and the council in regard to the mayor’s attempt to hire employees whose positions have not been funded by town council.
In December, 2024, Griffin announced that he had hired two employees for whom he had created two positions – a deputy administrator and a social media specialist – without discussing either position or either hire with any members of council. Neither position had been funded by council.
After it was made public by The Voice that the newly hired deputy administrator is under criminal investigation by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, Griffin announced that the new hire decided not to pursue the job.
Council removed funding in the budget for all unfilled positions, stipulating that funding for new positions would have to be approved by council. Griffin requested a S.C. Attorney General’s opinion concerning the mayor’s authority to hire employees without council’s consent. The AG responded that while the mayor in a mayor/council form of government has the authority to hire employees without permission from council, section 5-9-40 of state law places the responsibility of adopting a municipal budget with the council, and that the mayor is prohibited from expending funds not appropriated by council.
