‘It’s time.’ Bluffton interim town manager resigns. What we know
This story has been updated with information from Scott Marshall’s resignation letter dated May 3.
Scott Marshall, the town of Bluffon’s interim town manager, resigned last week, he said Tuesday. His resignation came one week after he was passed over for the permanent job.
But he said not getting the job wasn’t a factor in his decision to resign.
“Sometimes you just know when it’s time,” he told The Island Packet after Tuesday’s town council meeting. “It’s time.”
His last day will be June 4. Marshall told The Island Packet he doesn’t have another job lined up yet.
On Tuesday, Bluffton Town Council members met with Marshall in executive session to discuss personnel matters. After the session, Bluffton Mayor Lisa Sulka motioned to accept Marshall’s resignation. The council unanimously approved the motion.
Marshall, who had served as Bluffton’s deputy town manager since 2015, applied for the town’s top job after the departure of former Town Manager Marc Orlando. Hilton Head Island announced in December that Orlando would be the town’s new manager.
Marshall was named the interim town manager Jan. 13.
Two weeks ago, the council extended an offer to Stephen Steese, the City of Easley’s administrator.
Marshall said his time in Bluffton was enjoyable and a “great learning experience.” He said he was proud of the programs, parks and projects that he and Orlando worked on during his tenure.
His resignation letter, dated May 3, thanked Sulka and the council.
“I will always look back on my time with the Town of Bluffton in this position and in my position as the Deputy Town Manager with a sense of pride in all that we have accomplished together in the last five plus years,” the letter said.
Sulka told The Island Packet that Marshall emailed her last week about his intention to resign. She said she was a “little surprised” that he resigned before Steese started as town manager on June 14.
“I think he just is probably ready,” she said. “I don’t know what I think. I don’t know ... he’s a great deputy.”
Bluffton offered Steese the town manager job on April 26. The hiring came less than three weeks after The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette reported the town council had quietly paid a Greenville-based headhunting company to start the town’s search. None of the four potential candidates was publicly announced.
Sulka said Steese has accepted the job, but a signed contract has never been presented publicly. She said she didn’t know “where we are in the contract” or how much money the town plans to pay Steese. She said it would be similar to Orlando’s $161,000 salary.
The newspapers have requested a copy of the town’s proposed contract with Steese.
This story was originally published May 11, 2021 at 9:08 PM.
