Strong mayor? New Chapin leader could make town’s hiring, firing decisions
Chapin’s new mayor may soon have the power to hire and fire a range of town officials after a contentious vote at Chapin Town Council on Tuesday.
In a 3-2 vote, the council approved first reading of an ordinance that will empower Mayor Bill Mitchell with the sole authority to name or dismiss Chapin’s finance director, director of planning and zoning, the public works director and the chief of police.
In its first meeting to include two new members elected last November, Chapin Town Council also voted along 3-2 lines to allow Mitchell to “restructure” the town’s executive department, after Chapin previously eliminated its full-time town administrator after Mitchell took office.
The moves further strengthen Mitchell’s position as he was swept into office in a topsy-turvy election last year. But Mitchell said the changes were meant to bring the mayor’s powers back in line with Chapin’s chosen form of government.
“On two occasions, in 1977 and 2014, voters have said they want a mayor-council form of government,” Mitchell said of previous townwide referendums when speaking to media after Tuesday’s meeting. “It’s [the mayor’s] responsibility to hire and fire ... we’re not changing it, we’re putting it into place.”
Known as the “strong mayor” form of town government, the mayor-council system allows the elected mayor to act as the town’s chief executive. It’s more common in South Carolina than the council-manager form of government, where a professional manager oversees municipal staff under the direction of an elected council with the mayor effectively acting as a chairman.
Mitchell said previous administrations had slipped into the practice of running hiring decisions through the town council. That essentially stripped the mayor of his power, he said, and Mitchell wanted to take a more active hand at running town staff. He’s already declared himself a full-time mayor after the town reached a settlement with former Town Administrator Nicholle Burroughs to leave her post at the end of November.
Not all council members were on board with the change. Mitchell was joined by new members Ainslee Bost and Warren Burritt, while Mike Clonts and Vicky Shealy voted against. Bost and Burritt were sworn in earlier on Tuesday after both won election in November. Mitchell took office earlier because of the death in office of Mayor Al Koon in October.
Clonts told The State he was not prepared to vote in favor of the measures Tuesday, although he said he was open to the idea that the proposal could be a more efficient way to conduct town business.
“I haven’t really researched the reasons we developed it this way previously,” Clonts said. “I guess the mayor wants to be the full-time mayor and run everything, and that’s a new concept I haven’t fully bought into.”
The council chambers at town hall were packed after Mitchell’s aggressive start to his administration, with members of the public taking up both sides of the debate during the public comment period.
Erin Wessinger urged the newer members of the council to reconsider before a final vote on the proposal at next month’s meeting. “I want you to think about the oath you swore tonight before you decide we should be run like a dictatorship,” Wessinger said.
But John Campbell said he could see the logic behind the proposal. “In any company, it’s the manager who makes the hiring and firing decisions,” he said. “Nobody puts it to a vote.”
Council members also voted Tuesday to look for a firm to conduct a forensic audit into the town’s accounts. Mitchell said an audit was needed after the town recently changed its accounting software, and he wanted to ensure all the town’s finances are correctly accounted for.
“I’m not suspecting anything criminal,” the mayor said. “But we’ve still got some records in boxes ... we need a top-level firm with a CPA and government experience to make sure it’s being done correctly.”
Chapin may need some help in that department. Councilwoman Shealy pointed out Tuesday’s meeting agenda was missing its regular financial update because the town finance director left shortly after Mitchell came into office.
This story was originally published January 21, 2026 at 2:32 PM.
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