Richland recommends hiring interim manager without releasing finalists’ names

A Richland County Council committee has chosen its preferred candidate for interim county manager, but county officials have not released the name of that person or of the other two finalists.

County administrator Tony McDonald is retiring after June 30 from his role of as the county’s top employee, appointed by council members to oversee the day-to-day operations of the county. A committee of five council members met in executive session Tuesday afternoon to interview candidates to be McDonald’s interim replacement.

The committee voted Thursday night to recommend that County Council hire “Candidate 1,” whom they did not identify. It was not advertised on the meeting’s agenda that the committee would be voting on the matter Thursday.

The State newspaper requested the names and resumes of the three finalists Thursday afternoon, but county officials had not provided the information as of Thursday evening.

The South Carolina Freedom of Information Act requires that once the applicant pool for a public job has been narrowed to three or fewer candidates, application materials relating to those candidates be made public.

McDonald, 55, was hired by County Council as administrator in December 2012 after serving as interim administrator for six months and as an assistant county administrator for about a decade prior. He began working for Richland County nearly 31 years ago as a research analyst in the administration department after completing a graduate degree at the University of South Carolina.

This story was originally published June 9, 2016 at 6:52 PM with the headline "Richland recommends hiring interim manager without releasing finalists’ names."