Town council dispute, police departures put spotlight on South Congaree

James Galluzzo, a 20-year military veteran that served as a commissioned officer and a director of leadership development at Fort Jackson, moved to South Congaree in 2018.

Having become chairman of the town’s zoning board of appeals, Galluzzo said he’s noticed a lack of organization and effectiveness in local government.

“There is a lot of frustration right now the town government,” Galluzzo said. “It stems from some issues with the current administration, the town administrator, the police chief, some ongoing challenges with staffing and finding people responsible and capable to conduct the business of the town day-to-day.”

A small town of more 2,300 people to the southwest of Columbia, South Congaree has its own mayor, town council and police force. Last month, all three made headlines over controversial disputes, after Mayor Cindy Campbell being stripped of her ability to preside over town council and new police chief Carl Quinlan was removed on May 14 after a three-month tenure.

Town clerk Kelli Ricard forwarded a Freedom of Information Act request for Quinlan’s personnel record to the town’s attorney and is under review as of June 5. Legally, the town has 10 business days to respond to the request, which was submitted on June 1.

Quinlan’s dismissal followed the September 2025 retirement of Steve Jonas, who’d been on the job one year. The retirement came after a wrong-way car crash, where Jonas failed a field sobriety test but later blew a 0.0 on a breathalyzer, with the South Carolina Highway Patrol later confirming Jonas had 1.5 micrograms of a medication in his system that could not be identified due to HIPPA laws, as reported by Fox Carolina.

Investigators later concluded Jonas experienced a transient ischemic attack, also known as a “mini stroke,” as reported by WIS. South Congaree’s public information officer Ashley Hunter confirmed the department currently has only two employees, along with support from Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.

South Conagree’s current budget allows for up to four officers. Gaston, a town of more than 1,800 less than 10 miles to the south, employs two full-time officers, four reserves and a school resource officer.

Galluzzo said in his view, Quinlan’s exit was suspiciously timed.

“We had someone that they had vetted and had been a very good, seemed to be a very good, capable officer,” Galluzzo said. “He started to look into some of the things that were going on and there was some investigation. And again, he has now been overridden.”

Five days after Quinlan’s departure, the town council held the May 19 vote to remove Campbell from presiding over meetings for one year, transferring the role to Mayor Pro-Tempore Kitty Spires. When Spires was asked by Campbell during the meeting to publicly provide a reason for the action, Spires said it was due to “Interference in town processes, with the administrative staff.” as seen in a public recording of the meeting.

Campbell was the lone dissenting vote in a 4-1 result. A statement released by Hunter, attributed to council members, claimed the move was necessary for the council to remain focused on running the town.

“The 4-1 decision is intended to preserve professionalism, dispel ongoing misinformation, maintain orderly public meetings, support town employees in carrying out their duties without undue interference and ensure that Council meetings remain focused on conducting official town business in an effective and respectful manner,” the statement reads.

When contacted for additional comment, council members Debbie McIver and Brian Jackson declined, while council member Dwayne Prosser, Spires and Campbell did not respond.

Galluzzo said transparency had been an issue, and that conversations he felt should be open were only being had behind closed doors in executive session.

“The problem is that these sessions are usually very long, there’s no way to know if there’s any information that’s discussed in there that could be or should be public,” Galluzzo said. “It’s all tarped under an umbrella and so it’s very difficult to decipher and there’s really no discussion of what the results were other than just seeing the outcome when a decision is made. For example, the decision to revoke the mayor’s powers to preside over the meeting.”

Galluzzo said he had a positive view of Campbell.

“I think the mayor is trying to do the right thing,” Galluzzo said. “There are several of us that are supportive of her initiatives.”

Jamie Lucas, a South Carolina native who does not live in South Congaree, but served as police chief from 2001-02 and says he maintains close connections in the area, also said he felt the community was troubled by a lack of communication between citizens and officials regarding controversies.

Lucas himself has faced misconduct investigations in the past, being arrested in Lexington County for larceny charges that were later dropped, publicly reprimanded after resigning from his role as county magistrate and having later pled guilty to a petty offense following his time as a police chief in Kremmling, Colorado.

He said he knew the importance of taking accountability for and being open about mistakes and that he feels honesty about them maintains his credibility.

“It goes back to being transparent,” Lucas said. “People are going to have different opinions.”

Lucas said some locals may be hesitant to speak out after Quinlan’s removal and the vote against Campbell.

“I still have relationships with people in South Conagree, when they come to me, I completely understand this fear,” Lucas said. “The hesitation of saying we just want to remain quiet, we know it’s not right, but we just want to remain quiet because we don’t want to go through this, we don’t want to be targeted, we don’t want to be harassed, we don’t want to be labeled as somebody that we’re not, so that’s a very good and realistic fear.”

Lucas said he felt that if the town council made their decision-making more public and sought more input from locals, things would improve.

“People just want to be heard, they want to be validated,” Lucas said.

Galluzzo said he believes as South Congaree grows, with more than 2,000 new residential units and a new school planned in the area, new voices will inevitably take over.

“This town is changing,” Galluzzo said. “The growth is going to overrun them.”