Richland County doesn’t seek to re-approve $1m Seals payout, searches for next move
Richland County will ask a judge to reconsider a decision that invalidated a $1 million payout to former county administrator Gerald Seals, and county officials will send their attorneys to attempt to negotiate a legal solution with the former administrator more than two years after the council voted to fire him.
The latest action at Tuesday’s county council meeting comes as council members search for a solution after a court decision issued Oct. 9 that voided the council’s 2018 decision about Seals’ payment. Judge Jocelyn Newman ruled the contentious vote did not follow the state’s open meetings laws because the council did not properly advertise a potential vote ahead of time, and because the council indicated it had reached a decision on the settlement before members came out of a closed executive session.
The court decision did not require Seals to return the $1 million he received two years ago, so a decision not to re-approve the settlement would leave the county in the awkward position of trying to get the money back. Seals’ attorney, Clarence Davis, argued in court that Seals would take legal action against the county for various employment claims if it tried to unwind the previously approved settlement.
The council did not explicitly give attorneys a proposal to bring to Seals and his attorney, as Councilman Bill Malinowski pointed out.
“What are they going to discuss? Are they just going to ask (Seals) ‘what do you want to do?’” Malinowski said.
Malinowski and Councilwoman Dalhi Myers both voted against reopening negotIations with Seals. Council had the option to re-approve the $1 million payout, but that was not proposed after council members met in a closed executive session for an hour and a half. Instead, the council will consider its next move when it next meets Nov. 17.
In the meantime, the county’s attorneys will file a motion with Newman’s court to reconsider the decision, a standard legal move after an adverse verdict.
Newman’s decision forced Richland County Council to reconsider whether they should still approve a near $1 million payout to Seals, who left after an acrimonious clash with members of the council that ended with a public vote to fire the county administrator.
A slim majority of county council members abruptly voted to fire Seals in May 2018, claiming Seals took major actions without input from the council, slept on the job and caused a rapid turnover in county staff. Seals disputed those claims and fired back that the council members had acted illegally in terminating him.
Ultimately, Seals agreed to resign and took the settlement.
County resident William Coggins then sued over that settlement, claiming it was improperly approved and that an excessive amount of money was paid to Seals.
Newman’s decision found that the council failed to properly disclose the nature of its executive session on May 14, 2018, noting the published meeting agenda only called for a discussion of a “personnel and contractual matter” related to the county administrator, which Newman called “impermissibly vague.” She also said the council failed to indicate it planned to vote on a settlement after its closed-door discussions.
Some council members opposed going into executive session Tuesday, arguing a lack of transparency about the council’s discussions had put them in the situation they found themselves in this week. But Chairman Paul Livingston and county attorney Larry Smith argued the county risked weakening its legal stance by discussing the issue publicly.
The council did go into a private session after a 6-4 vote, with Dalhi Myers, Chakisse Newton, Allison Terracio and Joe Walker voting to remain in open session.
The council that discussed the issue Tuesday is a different one from the council that voted in 2018. Three members of the council at the time of the vote left after the 2018 election, and a fourth, the late Councilman Calvin “Chip” Jackson, has since passed away. Four more council members — Myers, Joyce Dickerson, Gwen Kennedy and Jim Manning — are also on their way off the council, having either decided to retire or losing primary races this year.
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