DILLON — Dillon County County Council voted Tuesday to appoint their clerk to serve as interim Dillon County Administrator until a more permanent candidate can be selected.
Lisa Gray is the clerk of council and will perform the duties associated with the Dillon County Administrator position which was most recently held by Dillon attorney Charles Curry.
Curry was officially dismissed from the position July 27 after council voted to affirm their June decision to terminate him.
Gray occupied the interim position after former Dillon County Administrator Clay Young left in October to pursue a job in Kershaw County.
Before making the decision, the council discussed the matter in an executive session that lasted more than two hours.
Dillon County Council Chairman Harold Moody said Gray will stay in the position until an interim county administrator can be hired. Once that person has been hired, then the body will moved forward in its process of finding and hiring a county administrator, Moody said.
Council has begun looking for an interim administrator but council members aren’t ready to release the names of any candidates, Moody said.
In the week before Tuesday’s meeting no one was conducting county business normally handled by the administrator, he said.
The administrator is responsible for the administration of all departments of county government, including personnel matters.
It is essential that someone perform the duties of the administrator, Dillon County Attorney Dan Shine said in an earlier interview.
Shine, who advises council on such matters, said that an administrator needs to be appointed “very soon.”
“Somebody’s hand has got to be on that tiller,” Shine said. “Somebody’s got to be back there steering.”
Shine was appointed by Curry and said he will serve as Dillon County attorney until the next administrator dismisses him.
Many Dillon County residents became incensed at council members because of their decision to fire Curry.
Emotions ran high among residents who attended subsequent council meetings where outbursts of discontent from the crowd were not uncommon.
Emotions boiled over again just before Tuesday’s call meeting when one audience member demanded loudly that councilman Macio Williamson removed his hat and chewing gum.
“You can remove it,” Williamson said to the resident.
The resident replied to the councilman’s comment before Williamson removed his hat, and Moody reminded everyone that council meetings must be conducted in an orderly fashion.
Dillon sheriff's deputies stepped in and confronted the resident after his second outburst —this one making reference to the entire council.
Dillon Councilman Andrew “Deboy” Graves said the resident needed to “close his mouth.”
Graves and the resident’s brief, but heated word exchange continued before the crowd was ushered out of the council chambers and the executive session began.
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