BLYTHEWOOD – In a Motion for Injunction filed Feb. 11 with the Richland County Court of Common Pleas, four Blythewood Town Council members have asked the Court to move for a temporary and permanent injunction against Mayor Sloan Griffin.
The four council members who filed the lawsuit are Mayor Pro Tem Donald Brock, Councilman Rich McKenrick and Councilwomen Andrea Fripp and Erica Page.
In particular, the motion states, the plaintiffs seek a ruling of the court compelling the defendant, Griffin, to maintain the status quo and not hire additional employees whose positions have not been funded or authorized by the town council.
The motion was filed by Attorney James Edward Bradley, with the Moore, Bradley, Myers law firm in West Columbia.
In a letter to Judge Daniel Coble, Bradley stated that the dispute regards the municipal authority of the mayor in ultra vires acts – acts that requires legal authority but are done without it. Bradley seeks a declaration of the powers of the mayor and the council in regard to the mayor’s attempt to hire employees whose positions have not been funded by town council.
While the council and Town are being represented by Bradley,
Griffin told The Voice late
Wednesday afternoon that he has not retained counsel and doesn’t plan to.
In December, 2024, Griffin announced that he had hired two employees for whom he had created two positions – a deputy administrator and a social media specialist – without discussing either position or either hire with any members of council. Neither job was funded.
After it was made public by The Voice that the newly hired deputy administrator is under criminal investigation by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, Griffin announced that new hire decided not to pursue the job.
Council removed funding for all unfilled positions, stipulating that funding for new positions would have to be approved by council. Griffin requested a S.C. Attorney General’s opinion concerning the mayor’s authority to hire employees without council’s consent. The AG responded that while the mayor in a mayor/council form of government has the authority to hire employees without permission from council, section 5-9-40 of state law places the responsibility of adopting a municipal budget with the council, and that the mayor is prohibited from expending funds not appropriated by council.
