A car, $165K salary, a Greater Bluffton address: Inside new town manager’s contract
Former Easley City Administrator Stephen Steese will begin work as Bluffton’s town manager on June 14.
Steese is coming to Bluffton with a three-year agreement at $165,000 a year, according to his employment contract, obtained by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette. The contract, signed by Steese and Bluffton Mayor Lisa Sulka, will automatically renew for two years at a time unless terminated by town council.
Steese will work as the town’s chief executive officer, creating a vision for the town’s future, crafting a budget, managing employees and working with other governments, including Beaufort County and Hilton Head Island. He’s coming to a town of about 25,000 people that is grappling with expansive population growth, a shortage of affordable housing and concerns over the health of nearby waterways, specifically the May River.
The former Upstate administrator has some experience in those fields. Although the City of Easley, which he has led since 2015, has not seen the massive population boom experienced by Bluffton, it’s expected to grow by 25% in the next five years. Bluffton’s population, by comparison, has increased 95% since 2010.
During Steese’s tenure with Easley, the city underwent a downtown revitalization and tackled other projects, including a 7.5-mile “rails-to-trails” project and a massive eating and entertainment complex called The Silos.
But Steese’s entrance into Bluffton has been rather unceremonious.
His hiring comes on the heels of former Town Manager Marc Orlando’s sharply criticized exit from the town (he moved across the bridge to Hilton Head to be its town manager). As Orlando was departing, town officials promised to hold a public search process. But they operated largely out of the public eye before Steese’s hire.
As The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette reported last month, Bluffton officials quietly paid a Greenville-based headhunting company to start the town’s search. And they didn’t announce any of the potential candidates before offering Steese the job.
Bluffton interim Town Manager Scott Marshall, who had applied for the permanent job, resigned shortly after the town named Steese as its choice. On Tuesday, Bluffton Town Council appointed Finance and Administration Director Chris Forster as interim until Steese starts in June.
Bluffton offered Steese the town’s top job on April 26 after a six-hour executive session. Before moving to Easley in 2015, he served as city manager of Roxboro, N.C. and Woodruff, S.C.
Here are some things to know about the new town manager and his contract:
His salary
Stephen Steese’s three-year contract (June 14 through June 13, 2024) calls for a yearly salary of $165,000.
That’s a slight pay bump over Orlando’s previous $161,000 salary. Orlando now makes $200,000 on Hilton Head Island.
Steese will be eligible for pay raises or bonuses at any time, per his contract. And he is entitled to additional money for any extra work performed if Mayor Sulka declares a disaster or emergency.
The contract also provides Steese and his dependents with medical benefits and offers Steese a $1,500 annual life insurance allowance.
He gets a car
Steese’s contract gives him the “exclusive and unrestricted” use of a town vehicle and fuel during his tenure with Bluffton.
For comparison, Hilton Head, instead of offering Orlando the use of a town vehicle, gave him an $850 monthly car allowance.
Bluffton will also pay Steese’s monthly cell phone, internet and membership/subscription bills, according to the contract.
He has to live in Greater Bluffton
Steese will be required to live within Bluffton’s town limits or within the town’s unincorporated “doughnut holes” (The contract states he may not live on Hilton Head Island nor north of the Broad River).
However, the contract does not say how quickly he must move.
Marshall, the former interim manager, lived north of the Broad River in Beaufort during his tenure, according to his property tax bill.
He’ll get $12K in moving expenses
Bluffton, according to the contract, agreed to pay Steese up to $12,000 to move to the town.
This story was originally published May 19, 2021 at 1:38 PM.
