A new face takes the helm of Lexington town leadership. Here’s who it is
After some four months without a full-time administrator, Lexington has made a hire for the town’s top job.
Lexington Town Council approved the hiring of Rachelle Moody on Monday to be the town’s new administrator. Moody will join Lexington from North Augusta, where she is currently the assistant city administrator.
Moody will start work Nov. 20.
Lexington has been without a full-time administrator since Britt Poole resigned in June to become executive director of the Central Midlands Council of Governments. Poole had been Lexington’s town administrator since 2010. Assistant Town Administrator Stuart Ford then took over on an interim basis before Moody’s hiring Monday.
Moody has been in North Augusta for four years, where she oversees the city’s budget and strategic partnerships in the community, Lexington said in a news release announcing the hire. Previously, she was an assistant to the city manager in Cayce from 2016 to 2019. In a release, Lexington noted she lived in Lexington while filling that job.
Before that, she worked for several years in Texas after graduating from Wichita State University.
“It’s my privilege to join a community that has such rich history and so much to already be proud of,” Moody said in a statement. “I am committed to hitting the ground running and working collaboratively with our staff, elected officials, and residents to build on our collective success as we aim to take our Town to even greater heights.”
The town administrator is the top official tasked with implementing the town council’s decisions and policies, and with putting together and administering the town’s annual budget.
Lexington brought in the Greenville-based staffing firm Find Great People to conduct the search for an administrator, which netted 75 applications from around the country, Mayor Pro Tempore Hazel Livingston said Monday.
“Many applicants had significant experience serving South Carolina municipalities and counties,” Livingston said.
Thirteen candidates were ultimately considered by council, including four who had previously served as city or town administrators elsewhere, Livingston said. Four semi-finalists were invited to give closed-door presentations to the town council before a final decision was made.
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