‘Desire for control’: Former Beaufort County Council members dispute chairman | Opinion

We read Stu Rodman’s December op-ed with interest and some disbelief.

With all due respect to Rodman, we served on Beaufort County Council when the events he described unfolded, and we have a different view of what happened. Some of the differences may be matters of perspective, but others are matters of fact.

For example, he claims the vote to extend the consulting contract Josh Gruber wrote for himself was 10-0. No. Rick Caporale voted against it, believing a “yes” vote would be portrayed as a quasi-legal post-facto ratification, which is exactly what happened. Check the public record.

Rodman also says, twice, that he asked for reconsideration of the vote selecting Gruber as the next county administrator. Video recordings prove otherwise. It was the politically courageous act of then-Councilman Tabor Vaux, who expressed his intention to call for a re-vote in a mid-meeting executive session.

Likewise, Rodman claims he had an opportunity to orchestrate the selection of Gruber if that were his desire. Really? There were six votes against Gruber from the start: Caporale, Mike Covert, Gerald Dawson, Brian Flewelling, Steve Fobes, and York Glover.

The closest Rodman and then-Chairman Paul Sommerville came was the slapstick Council meeting of July 23, where they conspired to force a vote on Gruber – because Councilman Fobes was out of town.

To help ensure the success of their scheme, acting county administrator Tom Keaveny hired an expensive parliamentarian named Helen McFadden. They needed her to bless procedural motions they knew would be challenged by Caporale, Flewelling and others.

Keaveny and McFadden met earlier that day to frame the plan along with Sommerville and then-Councilman Jerry Stewart. Their meeting might have remained secret had Stewart not included it on his September expense report. The plot failed, but McFadden was paid over $3,600 for her expertise.

And let’s remember Rodman and Sommerville were relying on the votes of Steward, then the vice chair, whom we now know was a resident of another state when he cast those votes. Makes you wonder who else knew and when they knew it. What if the other members of Council had all the facts then, or had seen all the Rodman e-mails that have come to light since?

We’re not certain how much skulduggery is required to catch the attention of local citizens or the press, but we suspect the County Council led by Sommerville and Stewart (c. 2015-2018) was way over quota. Rodman was simply lending all his moral support then, and appears to be defending his actions now.

Unfortunately, we see Rodman’s other statements in the same half-light of day.

Was Council split? Yes, but only on the subject of the next administrator.

Had two searches failed? Yes, because Council’s officers corrupted the first search and refused to accept the will of the majority.

Were there instances of open hostility and disrespect between some Council members? Yes, which is exactly what one might expect when leadership is corrupted by its desire for control.

And yet, had Council not been split and had the dissident majority not prevailed despite the manipulation, we might never have hired, in Rodman’s own words, “an outstanding administrator.”

Last, it’s ironic Rodman cites an “attempt to hijack the chair election.” As a matter of fact, were it not for the retirement of Fobes and Caporale, it is certain that Flewelling would be chairman today.

Finally, we wrote this to set the record straight and to remind current members of County Council that they need to elect officers who won’t take turns sweeping and holding up the corner of the rug.

On the other hand, if you think a county employee should be allowed to write himself a lucrative, secret contract, without any performance metrics or Council’s knowledge, have we got a job for you.

Rick Caporale and Steve Fobes of Hilton Head Island did not seek re-election to Beaufort County Council in 2018. Caporale served 12 years and Fobes six years.