Future of county administrator, county clerk questioned
Three county commissioners said they expected to be considering the resignations of the county administrator and county clerk during the commission’s regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday.
But the meeting was canceled at the last minute for lack of a quorum.
Vera Jones, Forrest Floyd and Phil Kieffer said they were surprised when the meeting was canceled.
All three said they expected to be considering the resignations of County Administrator David Crawley and his wife, Patrice Crawley, the county clerk.
Jones said Commission Chairman Wendall Kessler told her he expected to have the resignations at the meeting. Kieffer said Kessler “indicated that we may be considering letters of resignation.”
And Floyd said, "Resignations were anticipated."
Jones said Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie was called to be present when the Crawleys cleared personal belongings from county offices over the weekend.
Kessler said Tuesday night he has not received the resignations and he doesn't see a reason why he would. He said he has full confidence in the couple.
“There are some concerns that have been brought up and we have been working through those,” he said. When asked what the concerns were about, Kessler said budget and financial issues, “a lot of different issues” that come up at this time of year.
“I can’t say any of them would rise up to the level of someone being fired or resigning,” Kessler said. “I have all of the confidence in the world in both of the individuals.”
The commission meeting was canceled at the last minute because of a lack of a quorum. Kessler said he headed to Atlanta to see about his daughter’s health and wasn’t able to make the 3:30 p.m. meeting, but said while he was on his way there, he got news that she was doing better so he turned around and came back home.
Reggie Loper and Steve Mason also said at the last minute that they wouldn’t be able to attend the meeting.
Loper said his wife was ill and Mason said he had to work, according to Karen Arnold, executive assistant to the commissioners.
Loper and Mason did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
David Crawley declined to comment Tuesday night.
The commission meeting was scheduled for 3:30 p.m. instead of the regular 5 p.m. so that the commissioners could finish in time to attend a hearing at 7 p.m. about a permit for King America Finishing to release pollution into the Ogeechee River.
Four commissioners are needed for a quorum.
The three remaining commissioners – Jones, Floyd and Kieffer -- showed up at 3:30 p.m. and told five people who had come to the meeting that it had been canceled.
Jones said Patrice Crawley’s mother was in the audience when the commission meeting was canceled and that she said something about the commissioners firing her daughter. Floyd told the woman that her daughter had not been fired.
The lack of a quorum prevented the issue from coming to a head on Tuesday. Jones said avoidance is a tactic frequently used in county government.
“It’s politics in Effingham County,” Jones said. “It’s ugly.”
“I’ve come here for 2 ½ years when I knew things wouldn’t go my way, but I came anyway,” Kieffer said.
Jack Garvin, chairman of the Effingham County Democrats, came to the meeting only to learn it had been canceled at the last minute. “It looks bad,” he said. “It looks sinister whether it is or not. It’s not good business.”
One of the people in the audience was Richard Maseio, who said he was disappointed that the meeting was canceled. “I was just here to see what was going on,” he said. “It’s the first meeting I’ve come to.”
Among items on the agenda was second reading for several zoning cases, as well as discussion of a possible timber ordinance and an appearance by someone interested in locating solar panels in the county.