Terminated Dillon County Adminstrator Charles Curry is refusing to leave his administrator’s office despite Dillon County Council suspending him Tuesday and banning him from entering the office.
THE LETTERS
Read the communication between Curry and Dillon County Council's legal counsel, click here.
In a letter dated Tuesday written to Curry from the council’s lawyer, Carl Muller, Curry was to lay down his authority as administrator.
“ ... Effective immediately, all of your duties and powers of Dillon County Administrator are suspended and you are no longer permitted in the office of the Dillon County Administrator,” Muller said.
Curry is prohibited from accessing any Dillon County property or personnel including computer access except as “an ordinary citizen,” according to the letter.
“I am informed that you have placed certain of your personal information on a Dillon County computer,” Muller said in the letter. “You are to leave that alone so that it can be handled properly.”
Curry also was told to give his office keys and the keys to any county vehicle or property to the clerk of the Dillon County Council, immediately.
In a rebuttal letter faxed to Muller on Tuesday, Curry acknowledged receipt of his letter and said “ ... neither you nor Dillon County Council has the authority to suspend me until after the public hearing. Accordingly, I will not vacate my office.”
Curry couldn’t be reached by phone for comment by press time Tuesday.
On June 16, council members voted 4-3 to terminate Curry’s contract after he’d been on the job three months.
But nearly a month later Curry continue to conduct county business as usual because of a state statute that requires a public hearing to be held on the matter before the termination is final.
At a special county council meeting held July 7 Curry’s lawyer Janet Altman Byrd, said that she was prepared to take legal action against the body if they’d had voted to suspend him during the meeting
Altman said it was her goal to get her client to the public hearing stage of the matter.
The council held special meeting on July 7 and met in an executive session for more than a hour but never voted to suspend Curry.
Now that council has suspended Curry, it remains unclear if Altman Byrd will take Dillon County Council to court over the matter.
Altman Byrd couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday.
In a letter delivered to Curry about three days after his termination, council members said they fired Curry because he showed a “serious lack of judgement, bordering on ethical impropriety” during an U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation directly related to his position and the circumstances surrounding his appointment.
Council members also wrote that Curry was “particularly slow and less than forthcoming in bringing the case to the attention of council.”
The required public hearing on Curry’s termination has been scheduled for July 22 at 4 p.m. in the Dillon County Council Chambers.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement