County Council Spars Over Hiring Clerk

Rancor has erupted on Berkeley County Council over appointing a clerk of council. 

For years, Berkeley County Council has operated without a clerk of council, but some members of council have moved to appoint the temporary clerk — Catherine R. Windham — something County Supervisor and Council Chairman Dan Davis said is in violation of the county's employee handbook since the would-be clerk does not meet the necessary requirements. 

The crux of the issue has been described by the warring parties as over whether or not council has the responsibility for filling the position. 

Tempers flared during the last meeting of Berkeley County Council on March 25 when Councilman Dennis Fish discovered Davis withheld the decision of filling the position from the agenda. 

Davis told Fish it was withheld from the agenda because he didn't get a direct email and there were still questions over the legality. After a few words back and forth, Fish ended the conversation with, "What a joke." 

Last week, five council members sent out a flurry of emails to call a special meeting this Monday. The five council members agreeing to meet included: Fish, Tim Callanan, Ken Gunn, Cathy Davis and Phillip Farley.

Hours prior to the meeting, Dan Davis sent out an email to all council members and media saying he had doubts about the legality of the meeting since it was called via email.

Davis wrote:

Please be advised that I am canceling the Special Council meeting called for this tonight at 6:30.  I have concerns that the vote taken by electronic means to call the special council meeting is in violation of the Freedom of Information Act.

But the email went unheeded by County Council, which met in full, including Davis, but the appointment of temporary clerk Windham was withheld from the meeting. The item was pulled from the meeting with hopes to reach an agreement. 

"Rather than making a scene, if (Davis is) willing to sit down and talk about it I'm willing to give it a shot," Callanan told Patch.

Callanan and Davis met in a type of mediation Tuesday to see if the two sides could find common ground. The meeting included lawyers from both sides, who are expected to determine council's legal role in appointing a clerk of council.

Callanan said if common ground isn't found Tuesday, County Council will likely reconvene Thursday to press the issue. If the matter is settled, it may not be until the next regular meeting, April 22, that County Council decides on appointing Windham.