GEORGETOWN, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s Georgetown County has chosen a new administrator, but a civil rights group says the County Council chairman unfairly influenced the decision.
The council voted 4-3 on Tuesday to offer the job to Abbeville County Administrator David Garner. The two sides are in contract negotiations.
Georgetown County NAACP President Marvin Neal said Council Chairman John Thomas skewed the process by ranking his choices in an email to other council members before they had any discussion.
Garner was not among Thomas’ four choices.
The county says the process was fair. The County Council reviewed applicants nationwide, narrowing 40 down to five semifinalists through a point system.
All five were interviewed by council members and they selected three finalists who all interviewed publicly in Georgetown County.
