Beaufort County Council, you blew it
The July 25 story regarding Beaufort County Council’s failure, again, to hire a county administrator had the headline, “County back to square one in hiring new leader.” The headline should have read, “County Council shoots itself in the foot.”
This fiasco had its beginnings a year ago when a majority refused to hire Josh Gruber, retired administrator Gary Kubic’s choice for the position. Gruber, by all accounts, was well-qualified for the job. However, some on the council developed the collective delusion that there was a perfect candidate out there ... somewhere ... and they just needed to find him. That search ended in failure and another refusal to hire Gruber, who sensibly, took another job with the Town of Hilton Head Island.
The most recent search that played out at the council’s meeting bordered on the absurd, when one of the finalists, Alan Ours, was first rejected and then offered the job. In a bizarre series of votes, Gruber (no longer a candidate) received a majority of votes that were later retracted. Mr. Ours evidently concluded that he could not work for a group of people who didn’t have sense enough to make a decision, and seemed to consider this failure as a joke. Councilman Rick Caporale, “... laughed when he heard the news.”
Some council members are up for re-election in November. Look carefully at their records. Let’s reject those who facilitated this farce. County Council, you blew it.
Terry Gibson
Lady’s Island
How to submit a letter
Send letters to the editor by email to letters@islandpacket.com or letters@beaufortgazette.com.
Or you may submit a letter online.
Letters to the editor must be 250 words or fewer and include your first and last names, street address and daytime telephone number so we can verify the letter before publication.
You are limited to one letter per 30 days.
Letters may be edited for length, style, grammar, taste and libel. All letters submitted become the property of The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette.
Letters will be accepted only if they are typed into the body of an email, not sent as an email attachment.