Beaufort County re-elects chair, vice chair and swears in new council member
Beaufort County’s governing body, with a new member in tow, will continue into the new year with the same top leaders, council members decided Monday.
Monday morning, amid a barrage of technical difficulties which caused the elected officials to vote twice, Beaufort County Council members unanimously re-elected Chair Joe Passiment and Vice Chair Paul Sommerville to their respective leadership positions.
In the same meeting, council member Logan Cunningham was sworn into office. Cunningham, who will represent District 7 (The Buckwalter area of Bluffton), was elected in November to fill the seat left vacant by Mike Covert.
Monday’s decision means Passiment and Sommerville will continue as the county’s top leaders until their terms expire next year. More importantly, it affirmed the council’s confidence in Passiment’s leadership, who was elected as chair in March after Stu Rodman’s forced resignation.
The past year was tumultuous for the county government, and controversy has been frequent. Several employees in important positions have left their jobs in recent months, Ashley Jacobs, the county’s top administrator, was forced to resign in October. Government offices have been shut down for months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the county is in the middle of several legal battles (including one against Hilton Head Island and one against its own auditor).
For some council members, the re-election of Passiment represents stability. One of the biggest issues facing the county in the coming year is the choice of a permanent administrator after council members were split less than three months ago on whether to fire Jacobs.
Jacobs eventually resigned, and planning director Eric Greenway was appointed as interim, costing taxpayers at least $380,000 in salaries alone.
“There have been errors made,” Council member Brian Flewelling said. “I am hopeful that we have all learned from our mistakes and, moving forward, we can expect some stability — and hopefully a little less rancor.”
Council member Chris Hervochon said he voted for Passiment as chair because “we need some stability somewhere.”
With the council’s top leaders in place and Cunningham sworn in, Flewelling said he expects the search for a new administrator to “go reasonably quickly.” However, he said he didn’t know whether the county will hire a search firm or “do something else.”
