Whitaker named Chester city admin

CHESTER – The Chester City Council selected Fairfield County Administrator Malik Whitaker as the new City Administrator for Chester.

Whitaker gave his notice to Fairfield County Council on Tuesday that he will be leaving Jan. 15, 2023. It has not yet been disclosed when Whitaker will report to work in Chester.

The City of Chester has been without a full-time administrator since the firing of Stephanie Jackson in late March.

Chester County has been without a full-time supervisor since September 2020 when former Supervisor Shane Stuart was removed from office by Gov. Henry McMaster after being indicted on multiple drug and conspiracy charges.

Ed Driggers was brought in on an interim basis, Driggers, who had previously served as Chester’s interim administrator and before that as an assistant to Fairfield County’s interim administrator, had recently retired after 20 years as Greer’s administrator.

Driggers has had to deliver news at times that the council has likely not enjoyed hearing, like the fact that Chester is on pace to run out of money this coming July and has no credit, so borrowing is not an option. However, he did work closely with department heads to craft a “very tight” budget.

Whitaker, who says he lives in Ridgeway, has served as the Fairfield County Administrator since last December. Previously he served as the operations and management consultant manager for the Florida Department of Children and Families in Tallahassee (from 2020 to 2021), was the director of policy and continuous quality improvement for the South Carolina Department of Social Services (from 2015 until 2020) and was the agency’s Regional Services Director for the three years prior. Whitaker was the project lead for Communities in Schools of the Midlands from 2011 to 2012; program director for United Way of the Midlands from 2007 to 2011; research associate for Benedict College from 2003 to 2007 and assistant zoning administrator for Richland County from 1997 to 2003. His educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Juris Doctor degree.

Whitaker has recently come under fire in Fairfield County for approving bids and signing contracts for multi-million dollar projects without council’s consent. He has also been the target of criticism from both Fairfield citizens and employees in two sets of responses to surveys.