Feeling she’s backed into a corner, Treasurer files lawsuit against Beaufort County
From her office that is rarely in the public’s eye, Beaufort County’s elected treasurer, at her wit’s end, has resorted to using the South Carolina courts system to quell an extended dispute over how her employees should be compensated.
In her 12-page filing to South Carolina’s Fourteenth judicial Circuit, Maria Walls, in her capacity of county treasurer, accuses former County Administrator Eric Greenway and current interim County Administrator John Robinson of meddling and playing politics in what should be the walled-off domain of the Treasurer’s office. The treasurer accuses the pair of preparing an “altered and modified” version of the treasure’s report to “county council and citizens.” Additional accusations include the pair of administrators interfering with everything from demotions and promotions to extra pay for the staff that worked through the threat of Hurricane Idalia while many other county offices were closed.
The lawsuit claims the pair of administrators employed tactics including directing administrative staff to no longer communicate with the treasurer’s office, countermanding raises and threatening to revoke the office’s access to the human resources department, which is responsible for posting job listings and processing payroll.
Walls summarized her reasoning for filing the suit in a text message, “This is a serious matter and not an action to be take lightly. State law has checks and balance in place to protect our citizens. The County’s violation of this separation of powers left no other options and created a dangerous precedent that goes beyond the treasurer’s office affecting the entire state. Similar to the Eargle vs Horry County case, I’m confident the court will provide the clarification needed to move forward productively and preserve the protections of SC law intended for our citizens.”
In the filing Walls acknowledges that she “exhausted every reasonable effort to have County Administration to comply with the Home Rule Act”
Home Rule keeps elected officials and county administration strictly separate. For instance, the county council can only direct the county administrator and not anyone who works under him. In the same vein, the administrator does not have authority over the treasurer’s staff.
“I did not alter that dynamic, they did,” Walls said.
In the suit Walls argues that she has the right to compensate her employees as she sees fit. She reiterated multiple times that she wants to give her employees raises so that her office can have competitive rates in today’s job market. A starting position in her office starts at $17.98 an hour, according to Walls.
“You cannot have good government without good employees,” Walls said. “I have a good team. I want to retain that good team.”
“We cannot find anyone willing to work for 17.98 an hour,” she added.
Walls touted her office’s retention rate stating she lost her first employee since the COVID-19 pandemic this year. The employee was a telecommuter with flexible hours who left her job for a higher paying brick and mortar position.
“So if I’m losing telecommuting staff, for higher pay, I mean, eventually it’s going to cause disruption in operations.”
This has been an ongoing battle for Walls dating back at least as far as May, when she advocated for her budget request to council, but was ultimately turned down in a tight 6-5 vote.
“Beaufort County is aware of the lawsuit filed by Treasurer Maria Walls, and we are unable to comment on pending litigation,” said County spokesperson Hannah Nichols Thursday morning.
Former County Administrator Eric Greenway declined to comment on the matter Thursday morning.
This story was originally published October 12, 2023 at 11:31 AM.
