WINNSBORO – Following an executive session on May 21, the Winnsboro Town Council members voted unanimously to name the Town’s assistant manager, Chris Clauson, as interim town manager. Clauson accepted the position almost a month after former Town Manager Jason Taylor announced he would be leaving the Town of Winnsboro to take the position of City Manager with the Town of Newberry.
Taylor will officially be leaving at the end of June, and will continue to work with the Town until then.
Clauson, who has 10 years of experience in local government administration, has served as the assistant town manager of Winnsboro since July, 2021. Prior to that, he served Fairfield County as the community development director for just over three-and-a-half years under Taylor’s administration.
“The Town will be in good hands under Chris as interim,” Taylor said. “During the six years I’ve worked with Chris – three years at the county and three years here in the Town – I have found him to be an honest, intelligent, and capable manager. His institutional knowledge of the county and the town will be invaluable. It’s just been a pleasure to work with him.”
Taylor talked about Clauson’s contributions to the town over the last three years.
“Chris facilitated the annexation of more than 140 properties into the Town limits, and worked with Town Council to secure more than $15 million in grant funding for public infrastructure projects for the town,” Taylor said. “He also initiated, in coordination with the Town and County Councils, removal of a number of blighted structures in the community, more removals than have occurred in the last twenty years.”
Clauson also facilitated leadership transition of four Town departments after long term directors retired. Earlier in his tenure, he aided the implementation of the Advanced Meter Infrastructure (AMI) to satisfy Council’s desire to streamline the utility metering process.
On Tuesday night, Clauson was sworn in as a member of the Fairfield Joint Water and Sewer System Commission, where he will take Taylor’s place on the commission.
While employed with Fairfield County, Clauson also served as the chairman of Fairfield Forward. Prior to coming to Fairfield, Clauson worked for the Town of Chapin as town administrator and before that was with the Santee-Lynches Regional Council of Governments (the Sumter-based regional planning agency.)
Clauson holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Liberty University, a Professional Master of Business Administration degree from the University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business, and the Master of City and Regional Planning degree from Clemson University.
Prior to his college career, Clauson spent six years in the United States Air Force where he served in North Carolina, Afghanistan and South Korea.
Clauson and his wife Carla are the parents of three children.
