Despite the ‘calm’ the interim administrator provided, Beaufort Co. looks for someone new
Despite characterizing the six months since the departure of disgraced administrator Eric Greenway as calm, Beaufort County officials will look outside for a permanent replacement.
County officials praised interim administrator John Robinson, who could still apply for the permanent position, but has decided to hire a firm to conduct a broader search. The county hopes to have someone in place by July 1.
“We weren’t ready to start (the search) six months ago,” Chairman Joe Passiment told the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.. “We had certain things we had to do. We had to do some investigations, those kinds of things.”
The investigations Passiment mentioned were an audit of all county purchases and contracts since the beginning of 2023 and a review of the county’s procurement codes and purchasing card system. The council ordered the investigations at the same time they voted to put Greenway on administrative leave. In July, the council hired Greenville-based law firm Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd to perform the audits. The firm is expected to give its report at the end of February, Passiment said. These audits cost the county $350,000.
On Monday, the council selected Greenville-based headhunting firm Find Great People to run its administrator search.
Its chief operations officer, Betsy Anthony, declined to answer when asked if the firm had experience handling a government administrators search and also declined to make public its presentation to council in executive session. Council must still approve the contract, which it can do at its next meeting. At that time, the firm’s fee should be made public.
Peaceful waters under new leadership?
On July 24, the council placed Greenway on paid leave after it was announced that he was being investigated for misconduct. Four days later, Greenway’s was fired “with cause” by the council.
In the months since Greenway’s leave and subsequent termination, Robinson, the assistant county administrator of public safety under Greenway, has been doing the county’s top appointed job. Robinson was “the calming that we needed,” and put the county on a positive trajectory during his six-month tenure, Passiment said.
“He (Robinson) was able to get us through all of that turmoil,” Passiment added.
The county has been dogged by distractions since Greenway’s departure. Shortly after his firing, a mysterious purchase order for nearly $36,000 worth of weighted blankets, reportedly purchased from a company owned by then Deputy Administrator Whitney Richland’s husband, surfaced. It was later discovered that the county was quietly in possession of the blankets, which were all still boxed and on the floor in a county warehouse.
As an update, Passiment told the newspapers that the blankets had been returned and were never paid for. No other large, unrevealed purchases have been discovered as of Monday, according to Passiment.
Greenway’s cause for termination was later revealed to be misconduct involving his hand-picked opioid-consultant-turned-county-employee, former Wellness Director Lisa Lynch. Lynch accused Greenway of sexual harassment and retaliation after she turned down his advances. Lynch also was fired.
Lynch and her attorney are awaiting the results of an investigation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as to whether Lynch was discriminated against in her firing. Her attorney, Tim Lewis, said that he expects the EEOC will have the results of their investigation in three to six months. He expects the commission will find no discrimination. Upon an EEOC determination of no discrimination, Lynch will file a lawsuit against the county for wrongful termination, according to Lewis.
Shortly after the firings, it came to light that nearly $800,000 in playground equipment had been purchased and installed in Port Royal before ever getting needed council approval. In a 8-2 vote, the council retroactively approved the playground despite the substantial expense.
And more recently, the county has found itself caught in a fight with residents of Daufuskie Island, who have raised issues about the new contractor for the island’s ferry service. Accusations of breach of contract, longer travel times, a lack of cargo space and higher prices all have been part of the rancor. In a letter to council earlier this month, residents claim the council continues to strip away any sense of reliability from the Island’s public ferry.
All the while, the investigation into Greenway has been elevated to the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, the state’s top prosecutor.
Through the county’s public information officer, Robinson declined to speak on whether he’ll seek the administrator’s office permanently, return to his previous position under the next administrator or seek a role outside the county.
This story was originally published February 8, 2024 at 3:25 PM.
