Roger Hovis
BLYTHEWOOD – Town Councilman Roger Hovis has submitted a letter of resignation to Mayor J. Michael Ross, effective Sunday, Dec. 15. The letter was submitted to Town Hall on Dec. 3, and forwarded to the media on Dec. 6 by Town Clerk Martha Weaver. In her email, Weaver stated that Hovis had accepted a position with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department. “Regretfully,” the email continued, “this new opportunity requires Councilman Hovis to resign his seat on Town Council.
Article XVII, Section 1 A of the S.C. Constitution states that, “No person may hold two offices of honor or profit at the same time.” Hovis stated in his letter, “The experience of being an elected official for our great town has been very rewarding and I submit this resignation with sadness but full of confidence with the knowledge that you and the three newly elected gentlemen will carry out the wishes of the people of Blythewood.”
At a special called Town Council meeting on Monday night, The Voice asked Hovis what position he had been hired for at the Sheriff’s Department. Hovis said he “had no idea.” He said he hoped to know that before too long.
Ross said he would make an announcement soon as to when a special election would be held to fill Hovis’ seat. Hovis, who serves as the Mayor Pro Tem, has two years to serve on his term. He was elected in January 2012 to a four-year term.
