2 top administrators set to depart from Cayce following months of turnover
Two top officials in Cayce are set to leave their roles with the city following months of turnover at some of the city’s top administrative positions.
Both the city manager, Jim Crosland, and the finance director, Kelly McMullen, are set to leave Cayce in the coming weeks. Crosland will leave for a new job in Irmo, two weeks after announcing his impending retirement from Cayce. The city initially indicated that his last day would be Aug. 8. He is now expected to take over as Irmo’s town administrator on July 7.
It’s unclear when McMullen will leave, but Crosland announced during a Wednesday night council meeting that Financial Reporting Manager Allison Barrs would be promoted to fill the vacancy at municipal treasurer, the city’s top financial position, when McMullen departs. The State has requested a copy of McMullen’s letter of resignation.
“Kelly has done a magnificent job of being able to manage the numbers for our city ... our loss is someone else’s gain,” Mayor Pro Tem Tim James said during the Wednesday night meeting.
Crosland, who was formally hired to lead Cayce in December, will fill Irmo’s opening after administrator Courtney Dennis announced his pending departure from Irmo after 23 years with the town. Crosland had been with Cayce, in various roles, since 1998, but had worked in Irmo as a police sergeant earlier in his career, his new employer said in a press release.
“The timing was too good for us to pass up,” Irmo Mayor Bill Danielson told The State, saying he reached out to Crosland shortly after the former city manager announced his departure from Cayce. Crosland was receptive to making the move to Irmo, where Danielson said he already lives. He and Dennis have worked closely together over the years, and now the current Irmo administrator will get a chance to work with his replacement in the July handover.
“They know each other well, they’re confidants, they talk quite a bit,” the mayor said. “Jim will catch on pretty quick.”
Danielson stressed he only approached Crosland after he knew he would be leaving his position in Cayce.
“I don’t want to get the folks in Cayce mad at me,” he said. “Getting Jim was just the perfect timing.”
The move comes after Crosland announced his intent to retire from the city manager position in Cayce on May 6.
“The city of Cayce is thrilled for Jim’s next chapter. An Irmo native, and graduate of Irmo High School, this feels like going home for him,” a spokesperson told The State in a statement.
“Jim has been an incredible asset to the City of Cayce, and while we’ll miss his steady leadership, I knew he wouldn’t stay retired for long,” Cayce City Councilman Hunter Sox told The State in a statement. “It was only a matter of time before another city recognized his talent and called on him to serve. The fact that it’s Irmo — where he grew up, graduated high school, and has worked before — makes it all the more fitting. Irmo is gaining the most experienced and community-minded leader they could ask for. Here in the Midlands, our cities are strongest when we work together, and I’m excited to continue partnering with Jim in his new role.”
Crosland was initially set to stay with the city while it underwent its budget process and retire in early August. It’s not immediately known when his resignation from Cayce will take effect.
“It’s a rarity that in an organization someone can start at the very basic entry level position and have an opportunity to retire as the city manager,” Crosland said in a statement to city council members, when he announced his retirement. “I believe we have set a firm foundation for moving forward with a concentration in economic development, code compliance procedures, implementing new employee incentives and creating wonderful partnerships with our citizens and commercial partners.”
The announcement also comes as the city of Cayce has spent the better part of this year embroiled in controversy and turnover in some of its top leadership positions. The city has lost two police chiefs and two city managers within the last year.
Crosland was tapped as city manager in July of last year, initially in an interim capacity, after Tracy Hegler, who’d been with the city for six years, left following a contentious budget season.
The “mutually agreed voluntary separation,” as the city called it, was reached after the council met behind closed doors in executive session for nearly four hours to get legal advice related to road and employment issues. Cayce Mayor Elise Partin was the sole vote not to accept the separation.
In December, Herbert Blake, the police chief the city hired in September, abruptly resigned from the department’s leading role. He took the job following the resignation of Chris Cowan, who led the department for nearly three years. In Blake’s brief, three-sentence resignation letter, he thanked the city for the opportunity.
Cayce officials haven’t commented on why Blake left the role, but through interviews with police department staff and public records requests, The State reported that many department employees felt Blake had created a hostile work environment. Cayce announced the hiring of its new police chief, former West Columbia assistant police chief Bruce Wade, in March.
“We know that there’s been a lot of transition for our city of Cayce team lately, but we will get back to the right place together,” Partin said during the council meeting following the announcement of Crosland’s retirement.
The May 21 council meeting grew somewhat tense as the body prepared to enter executive session, when Partin requested that the council members meet in open session to discuss hiring someone to fill Crosland’s position, arguing that looking over a job description wasn’t something that needed to be done in private.
“All we’re doing is looking at a job description. That’s neither contractual nor personnel, which would make it [eligible for] executive session,” Partin said. After consulting the town attorney, who explained the matter was something that can be discussed during executive session, James and Councilman Phil Carter argued for taking the matter into executive session, which council ultimately did.
“If council doesn’t want to take a vote on it, doesn’t want to be transparent, that’s fine,” Partin said.
“We’re very transparent,” James responded.
The plan is to finalize and post the listing for the city manager position soon, city council members told The State, with the hope of interviewing candidates in June. The city council is finalizing a plan for running the city in the interim, if it cannot find a replacement for Crosland before he leaves for Irmo, council members said.
This story was originally published May 21, 2025 at 3:29 PM.
