County HR boss reminds all employees - keep your mouths shut about our business - or else

The county council’s promise of open and transparent government is facing another internal challenge as all county employees were recently reminded by the head of human resources to keep their mouths shut about county business. And the employees were warned there would be consequences for noncompliance.

On June 20, Katherine Mead sent an email reminding employees they are not allowed to talk to the press or public about the county’s business, instead, all inquiries needed to go through the public information officer. Included in the email was a reminder that failure to comply with this policy could lead to disciplinary action. Mead has been the county’s Human Resources Director since March of 2023 and has been with the county since 2013.

The policy she is referencing is known as 3.9 and it reads: “All media inquiries regarding the position of Beaufort County as to any issues must be referred to the Public Information Officer. Only the Public Information Officer is authorized to make or approve public statements on behalf of Beaufort County.” The policy goes on to detail what steps of approval are needed for an employee, regardless of job title, to comply with the directive.

While this policy is not new it has rarely been enforced until recently as county leaders are coming under increasing criticism from the public and the press for a series of decisions made during private executive sessions away from the public’s view. Some of these decisions, including the surprisingly quick vote to hire a new county administrator, the handling of a questionable ADA compliance of the new Daufuskie Ferry vendor and the lack of a written report detailing questionable purchases and spending, paid for with $350,000 taxpayer dollars, that has yet to be shared with the public.

The email from Mead was sent to every employee of the county. County Council did see the email, but Mead clarified that it doesn’t apply to the elected officials.

Employees of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office did not receive the email, spokesperson Master Sgt. Danny Allen confirmed.

Resignation of the IT and Communications administrator

The email reminding employees to not speak openly about the county’s business arrived shortly after the departure of another high-ranking member of the county administration’s leadership team - specifically the person who oversaw communications.

Assistant administrator of information technology and communications, Patrick Hill, is the latest name added to the list of personnel leaving Beaufort County. In his position, Hill oversaw the operations of the County’s IT department, applications/mapping systems, records management, communications and broadcast services. County Spokesperson Hannah Nichols said Hill resigned to “pursue his own IT startups and personal goals.”

Following his departure, Beaufort County confirmed that those departments would be split up among other members of Beaufort County administration, Nichols confirmed Friday.

According to Nichols, Dale Butts, the assistant administrator for finance is now overseeing the records management, Freedom of Information Act requests and broadcast services departments. Special Assistant to the Administrator, Hank Amundson will oversee Information Technology, applications and mapping departments. Most notably, the communications and accountability department will report directly to Interim County Administrator John Robinson.

“These actions are a necessary function of county administration to ensure critical department operations continue without interruption. These Department Heads are capable professionals whose dedication to Beaufort County will ensure a flawless transition,” Nichols said over email.

County Council member David Bartholomew told the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette he was under the impression that without an assistant administrator over those departments, the employees in them could not get paid. As of the publication of this article, the newspapers have not been able to confirm the payroll issue.

Freedom of Information Act requests submitted through the county will often take as much time as the law allows. The county is given 10 business days to confirm the requested records exist. Following the acknowledgment of the existence of qualified documents, the county has 30 business days to fulfill the request. It’s not uncommon for the county to use all 30 days, or more before the records are shared.

THE POST-GREENWAY ERA

Hill is the latest in a line of departures from Beaufort County following County Administrator Greenway’s firing in July of last year.

A series of questionable actions came to light in the wake of the Greenway firing including a mysterious purchase of nearly $36,000 worth of weighted blankets, reportedly from a company owned by then Deputy Administrator Whitney Richland’s husband.

It was later discovered that the county was in possession of the blankets, which were all still boxed and on the floor in a county warehouse. Officials had previously denied that the county ever took possession of the order. Richland resigned on an unknown date following the press coverage of the blankets.

Richland’s interim replacement and county CFO, Denise Christmas, also resigned leaving the county council with sharp advice on how to put Beaufort County back on the right track.

Unrelated to the blankets, county leaders eventually learned that $800,000 in playground equipment had been purchased and installed in Port Royal before getting the required council approval. The council retroactively approved the playground despite the substantial expense with a vote of 8-2.

Loper was fired from the county but eventually hired on an interim basis by the Town of Rincon, GA.

Most recently, the Capital Improvements Projects Director position opened up when Eric Larson resigned amid a South Carolina Ethics Commission investigation, which alleges he had a subordinate perform measurements and draw plans for a sunroom addition to his home while on the clock, according to the individual who filed the complaint. Through a FOIA request, The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette has obtained the permit application for the sunroom addition but there is no mention of county worker involvement on the document. Two of the three pages in the document were completely redacted.

Soon-to-be Administrator Moore will need to fill the following positions:

• Hill’s Assistant Administrator of Information Technology and Communications

• The Deputy County Administrator position

• The Chief Financial Officer position

• The Capital Improvements Projects Director position

Editor’s note: if anyone, including county employees, want to send a tip to our anonymous newsroom inbox, please email newsroom@islandpacket.com