WINNSBORO – Monday night’s county council meeting got off to a rough start when Chairman Doug Pauley stopped short a motion made by Councilman Dan Ruff to amend the agenda to add the second public comment time back to the agenda. Pauley cut Ruff off, did not call for a second to Ruff’s motion, nor did he allow discussion on Ruff’s motion.
“Mr. Ruff, it’s the chairman’s decision to set the agenda, and at this time the second public comment time is not going to be added,” Pauley said.
From there, Pauley launched into making arbitrary decisions as to which of the five members of the public who had signed up to speak, would or would not be allowed to speak during the first public comment section, depending on the topic they addressed. According to council rules, speakers for the first comment section must speak on agenda items. Since there were only two items on the agenda, four of the five speakers failed to hit the mark.
According to Pauley, one person was not allowed to speak on the county’s need for broadband which was not on the agenda, but two others were allowed to speak on items not on the agenda. Another one was allowed to speak, but was criticized by Pauley for not speaking on an agenda item. One other speaker was the only one to actually address the agenda. His topic was the agenda, itself, pointing out that it contained no substantive topics at a time when the county faces many problems.
After passing 7-0 a resolution to approve and ratify actions taken by Synithia Williams during the week she served as acting administrator “and other matters thereto,” the new Fairfield County Interim Administrator Clay Killian was introduced and welcomed by several council members.
With no new or old business to conduct, Pauley opened the floor to ‘county council time.’
Two of the three comments made by council members also appeared to set Pauley off.
Ruff reiterated the need for council to help fund the county’s Farmers and Artisans Market, asking where council stands on supporting it this season.
“I really think we need to do something to help the farmers market. It’s important to the county and to the town,” Ruff said. “It offers so much and I think we need to be a part of that.”
Councilwoman Peggy Swearingen welcomed the new administrator, saying the county is in desperate need of unbiased, professional leadership in its day to day operations.
She also expressed support to allow the public to speak during the second public comment session.
“The second public comment section was voted to be put on the agenda in December of 2022 by a full vote of council,” she said. “It was removed Aug. 28, 2023, by our chairman. Since it was voted by council to be placed on the agenda, it should be voted on by full council to remove it. Please tell us why it can’t be placed back on the agenda,” she said, addressing Pauley.
Instead of responding to Ruff and Swearingen’s concerns, Pauley read from a prepared statement, stating that he had received a phone call the prior week telling him that a certain media (which he later specified to be The Voice) had instructed Ruff and Swearingen on what to say during county council time. Pauley said the intent of this was, “to make council look bad or to put council on the spot.”
However, Pauley presented no proof of the phone call, name of the caller, or other evidence to back up his accusation.
Both Ruff and Swearingen reminded Pauley that they frequently spoke to the same issues they spoke to Monday night.
Pauley then blamed the demise of the second public comment time on a speaker who he said had made repeated outbursts during the second public comment time.
Several speakers pointed out, at the time, that the speaker’s outburst was precipitated by open disregard of speakers by some council members, the interim administrator, attorney and deputy administrator who chatted, laughed and otherwise were disrespectful of speakers during public comment.
In his announcement in September of 2023 to eliminate the second comment session, Pauley did not address council members’ behavior toward the speakers, and said it was council members who wanted to remove the second public comment session.
“The majority of council has agreed to temporarily remove the second public comment session,” Pauley announced. “We will possibly revisit this issue in the future.”
He went on to say, “Council does value input from citizens on topics related to improving our county, but we cannot allow pubic disrespect or disruption of the county council meeting.”
According to the S.C. Freedom of Information Act, however, any kind of decision by council on an issue – vote, agreement, straw poll, etc. – is only allowed to take place in the public meeting.
“Council cannot make a decision unless the decision is made by public vote in a meeting properly announced and convened in public,” said Media Attorney Jay Bender who represents the S.C. Press Association, of which The Voice is a member.
Council’s decision to eliminate the second public session, as described by Pauley, had not appeared on the agenda and had never been voted on by council members in public.
