Beaufort County’s state of emergency expires Friday due to errors. Will council fix it?
Beaufort County’s state of emergency ordinance was supposed to be extended Monday evening for as long as South Carolina was under a state of emergency.
But because of multiple errors and missteps by the County Council, the temporary law that allows officials to meet virtually — and gives the county administrator the power to implement an emergency operations plan — actually expires at the end of the day Friday.
Now, the county has scrambled to schedule a last-minute emergency meeting for 6 p.m. Friday to fix the errors and re-vote. If the measure does not pass again, or if Friday’s emergency meeting does not occur, the state of emergency will expire and council meetings will have to be face to face.
“This is a mea culpa,” Council Chair Joe Passiment said Thursday. “I’m the chairman. I have to accept the consequences of ‘I’m sorry, we screwed up.’ I’m not happy with this.”
On Monday, during a chaotic council meeting fraught with technical difficulties, confusion over what was being voted on and significant backlash from Facebook commenters, Beaufort County Council voted 7-4 to extend its state of emergency to coincide with Gov. Henry McMaster’s statewide emergency order.
The state of emergency does not directly affect the county’s mandatory mask requirements, which are set to expire on Oct. 23. Council will likely discuss at its meeting Monday whether to extend that ordinance.
“The motion passes, seven yes, four no, and everybody understands that this will be until the governor rescinds the state of emergency,” Passiment said Monday night.
But the motion did not pass.
S.C. law, and Beaufort County Council’s own rules and procedures, requires a two-thirds majority of the members present to approve an emergency ordinance. With 11 members present, the ordinance required eight “yes” votes to be approved — not seven.
No one on council or in the county attorney’s office immediately corrected Passiment and, for three days, most people believed the ordinance was extended.
Council member Mike Covert, who voted against the ordinance, brought up the issue in an email to County Attorney Kurt Taylor Wednesday.
“Unless you can come up with something very convincing otherwise, I believe this vote FAILS because of not having 2/3 in the affirm,” the email said.
Taylor responded: “SC code SECTION 4-9-130 does require a 2/3 vote to adopt emergency ordinances, so you are correct. Apologies.”
Compounding the multiple issues in the confusing and disorganized meeting is that Council member York Glover said he supported the state of emergency, but voted against the ordinance because it coincided with the statewide emergency order.
He thought the ordinance should have been extended for 61 days and should not be tied to the governor’s decisions.
After understanding that his was the dissenting vote that caused the ordinance to expire on Friday, Glover texted a reporter that he plans to change his vote Friday during the emergency meeting.
“I’m realizing that I am throwing out the baby with the bath water,” he said.
According to the rules, County Council’s decision to amend its ordinance to coincide with the governor’s orders should not have been legal. The council can’t rely on the governor’s decisions.
Another issue with the ordinance: Beaufort County Council’s rules and procedures state “Emergency Ordinances shall expire automatically as of the 61st day following the date of enactment,” not 60 days, as Friday’s agenda indicated.
Passiment, the chair, said he expects council to hold the emergency meeting on Friday to fix the issues. It will be streamed live on Facebook and on the County Channel.
If approved, the state of emergency would be in effect until Dec. 9, according to the agenda for Friday’s meeting. The agenda originally said the ordinance would expire on Dec. 8, 60 days after enactment, until a reporter informed county officials about the error. The agenda was later amended.
“This emergency ordinance allows us to meet virtually because there’s a pandemic,” Passiment said. “We still have a pandemic.”
Citing Monday’s disorganization and the confusion over whether to read every Facebook comment from the public regarding the county’s mask requirements, Passiment said that council will also implement a “new process and procedure” that requires people to sign up for public comments.
The council will no longer read aloud every Facebook comment during the meeting, he said.
