SC mayor ‘reluctantly’ resigns due to COVID-related health issues
The mayor of a small South Carolina town has resigned, citing the lingering health effects of a COVID-19 diagnosis.
Robert Wells is stepping down from his post as mayor of Pine Ridge in southeastern Lexington County.
The town said in a press release it will move forward with a special election to replace Wells, a former town councilman who was elected to his first term as mayor in 2017. He would have faced reelection later this year.
Wells said he contracted the virus last December and continues to feel the effects of it today.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Wells has continued to experience complications from this diagnosis,” the town’s press release reads. “These issues have led to Mr. Wells’ need to, reluctantly, step away from his duties as mayor to focus on his health and well-being.”
Wells’ time as mayor drew attention to the town due to the high rate of turnover in its small police department. Pine Ridge has had nine officers, including four police chiefs, leave during Wells’ tenure. The town has been without a police department since its last chief resigned in October and is currently policed by the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.
Some have cited Wells’ oversight of the department as the town’s police commissioner for the departures. But Wells points to a SLED investigation into former police chief Keith Parks as proof some departures were unavoidable.
Parks left the department in April amid the investigation, which determined he left Pine Ridge to coach a high school basketball team during time he should have been on the clock as a police officer.
Wells has also said turnover in the police department is not unusual for a town Pine Ridge’s size.
“I’ve enjoyed it,” Wells said of his time as mayor. “There were a lot of things that were blown out of proportion. But I stand behind everything we’ve done. Any agency can come check that what we did was legal and proper. When SLED does an investigation, it proves (it). ... It’s just unfortunate it happened during my one term.”
.jpg)