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Anderson County Council committee plans recommendation regarding Preston at next meeting
Joey Preston
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POWDERSVILLE — The Anderson County council’s personnel committee, after an hour-long executive session, said it would have a recommendation for the full council at its Nov. 3 meeting on a matter reportedly related to County Administrator Joey Preston.
The personnel committee met with vocal resistance from other council members when they met Monday to reportedly discuss Preston’s claim in a letter of “anticipatory breach of contract.”
Anderson County Council members Bob Waldrep and M. Cindy Wilson met the three-member committee when the committee entered the Powdersville Library.
The standing committee was named in February and includes councilmen Larry Greer, Ron Wilson and Bill McAbee. They were charged with meeting about Preston’s situation during the council’s last meeting this month.
After coming back into public session, R. Wilson announced that the committee would take the information they received under advisement. He said the committee intended to have a recommendation ready for the full council by its next meeting.
Attorney Tom Bright, a Greenville lawyer that also handles personnel matters for other counties was hired by Anderson to assist with the Preston situation.
Prior to McAbee arriving for the start of the meeting, the four present council members, according to at least one observer exchanged heated words.
Committee members tried to bar Waldrep and C. Wilson from attending the meeting, but Waldrep told the committee members that by law, any council member could attend any committee meeting.
R. Wilson told Waldrep that the two non-committee members could by law attend the meeting, but they would not be allowed to speak or vote.
Waldrep said, “Thank you, your grace.” To which R. Wilson responded “Shut up, Bob.”
Greer said to Waldrep that the meeting was a serious matter and that he “did not appreciate (Waldrep’s) sense of humor.”
Waldrep said he did not care what Greer appreciated.
Waldrep and C. Wilson both attended the executive session.
The issue at hand concerns Preston’s contract. Preston signed a contract with the county in September 1996 to serve as administrator for less than $100,000.
In 1998, the contract was amended to a three-year self-renewing term. The contract was voted on by council in July 1998 and signed by then council chairman William Floyd.
The contract allows the council to terminate the administrator with cause, or to pay him a substantial severance package for termination without cause.
The current contract was extended on April 23, 2008 and will expire on July 21, 2011. It pays Preston $167,837.93. There was no salary increase with the latest extension.
In August, during a special called council meeting to discuss an audit of the county’s financial records, Waldrep read a statement reportedly from three candidates for county council who do not face opposition in the November election. The statement called for placing the administrator and the finance director, Gina Humphries, on paid administrative leave while the audit is conducted.
In September, Preston sent a letter to council claiming those actions and others by current council members and “certain incoming council members” amounted to an “anticipatory breach of contract” and that he felt he was being “terminated without cause” as of January 2009.
On Oct. 17, the letter, marked “confidential” was leaked to the media after Waldrep placed the letter’s discussion on the Oct. 21 council meeting agenda.
During that meeting, council moved to remove the letter from the agenda with a vote of four to three (with Cindy Wilson, Bob Waldrep and Michael Thompson voting against removing it). Councilwoman Gracie Floyd then moved to have the issue moved to the personnel committee for research and discussion.
During discussions, Waldrep said he was concerned the issue of Preston’s letter would not be discussed in public.
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Witnesses observing Todays ANDERSON COUNTY COUNCIL EVENT say alot more words were exchanged than whats printed here. Come on give us the real story not the AIM verson.
terribly written article. C. Wilson? R. Wilson?
You are allowed to use their names. All of this is heresay unless you (the reporter) actuall hear it.
Does the independent hire reporters from the high school journalism class? Do you hire them as jrs. or srs.
AIM was present so it's not hear-say. This story don't say anything close to what really happend.
Lets hear... Who called Who... What????
I guess (bleep) (bleep)in Print just don't have the same effect as audio.
I don't think it is any secret that I am a Preston supporter (and if it was, here is my acknowledgment of the fact), but all of this has gone too far for too long. The entire county council has lost any shred of respect that any of them might have had in my eyes.
I don't have any confidence that anyone on the county council, or in the county government has anyone's concerns on their minds but their own. They have wasted untold amounts of time and money on their petty squabbling and incessant infighting.
This latest round of name-calling and bickering in a council meeting is absolutely uncalled for, uncivilized, and unacceptable. The sniping remarks and smart@#$ed comments are not what I expect my tax dollars to go towards. I am not defending any group over another here, I condemn every single one of them. I do not have any confidence in any of them being able to responsibly or professionally govern a game of Monopoly, let alone Anderson County.
In my opinion every single member of the council, the county administrator's office, and the county accountants should step down from office. Can you not see the shame you are bringing upon our county by your antics? Residents of nearby counties smirk and joke about the latest idiocy by the buffoons in Anderson. It makes me embarrassed to go see friends and relatives in other parts of the state, and don't for one second think that they do not know what is going on here. Welcome to Anderson County, the laughing stock of South Carolina.
I say shame on all of you in the county government. You should all apologize for the way you have maligned the trust of those who elected or appointed you and resign from office. You all seem to be more concerned with your own pet projects and petty grievances than with properly running the government of this county. Maybe someone else can do a better job, or maybe they can't, but I cannot see them doing much worse. I am disgusted by the lot of you and hope that you feel all the shame that you rightly should.
Any TV stations covering this tonite?
in response to huzzah
Excellent post!!! And it's the truth!!!
Well written article. This article got the essential points across. Let's not be critical when they report on news we need to know. C.Wilson and R.Wilson was for consistency (Waldrep, McAbee, etc).
Disregarding style, does anyone have anything to say about the substance? Why were R.Wilson and McAbee (lame duck) and Greer (lame duck) so upset with C.Wilson and Waldrep for showing up?
R. Wilson and the lame ducks (along with Thompson and Floyd) seem to be doing everything they can to hide what they are doing about Preston's golden parachute from the taxpayers and the taxpayers are the ones that will have to cough up the cash.
I hope the new council members with C.Wilson and Waldrep keep their words and open the county government and stop all of the backroom dealing. Trust can be restored by openness.
Great quote from Waldrep.
in response to huzzah
I agree w/ you 100%!!! Instead all the citizens bickering about who they support.maybe the tax payers should stand together & demand everyone resign immediatley.
There is a time when everyone has served their usefulness and things need to be turned over to NEW BLOOD...from the White House to the County Council and THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR, who has become an agent of division and too, too many unanswered questions.
Joey Preston needs to go for the greater good of the county and SO DOES HIS voice...spoken through some council members. WE NEED A NEW President, Congress, COUNTY COUNCIL and a NEW COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR!
Its time for a NEW BEGINING without controversy, deceit, dishonesty, personalities, liberals, conservatives, Republicans, Democrat, pro-American, Anti-American, or Pro-Joey, Anti-Joey. Preston has become a liability and needs to GO...and he needs to go NOW so we can heal and move forward!
I believe he's building a case to sue the county to cost us even more. I wonder if his buddies on council aren't working to assist him with that law suit objective?
County Council and Preston all need to go.
A clean sweep is in order.
I really do get so frustrated sometimes when readers miss the entire real issue. The real issue here is that our ELECTED Officials are acting like spoiled little babies on a play ground. I personally think their voters (mama's) should take them to the woodshed and beat their behinds!
This is what happens when 80-85% of the counties population doesn’t vote. You get what you don't vote for.
in response to huzzah
This is why we need TERM LIMITS!
in response to huzzah
I agree 100%. They all need to go. This stalemate has gone on long enough!
in response to robert
Ummm ...
We have TERM LIMITS. Members of County Council are up for re-election every two years. I'm not really sure how you could limit their terms any farther.
... stupid ...
- SSHM
in response to huzzah
FYI - The actions of Joey Preston are the actions of a scared man.
Preston has done everything humanly possible to avoid this audit coming his way. He has exaggerated it's cost, planted shills on public forums to attack proponents of an audit, massaged the newspaper into decrying a need for an audit and mocked those calling for it as "conspiracy theorists". Those are not the actions of someone who has nothing to worry about.
Now he is trying to forestall being put on paid leave while the audit is conducted. Calling it a "anticipatory breach of contract" or "not allowing him to do his job". Clearly he believes he is above questioning and above the law. He has been so used to the rubber stamp county council members supporting his every move, he is panicking and wanting his friends on the personel committee to find him a way out.
Preston has taken this county for a lot of perks and high living in his 12 years as county administrator. Not one dime in severance pay is in order until we look over his doings of the past decade (and possibly sue him to recover monies unlawfully used for non job related purposes).
Thank you Bob and Cindy for staying on top of this and not allowing these lame duck sellouts to pull a fast one on us.
CindyRoper, Mr. Preston is anything BUT scared. He has endured more junk from MCW, MBW, and the likes and is finally standing up for what is right. I guess you are supportive of Bob's spoiled tempered tantrum last night. Geez, it is a wonder our younger generation is having to look so hard to find decent role models. Bob Waldrep is sure not to be looked up to.
Excellent post huzzah!!!
redrider2ks, I agree with you 100%. It is definitely time for the bickering to stop and the citizens of Anderson County to stand together and demand that everyone resign!
in response to zeldaz
Oh he's scared alright! You bet I am in support of everything Bob and Cindy do in regards to Joey Preston and the lame duck council people. If we didn't have Bob and Cindy as watchdogs for us, we would have had alot more "slick" moves by your hero Joey Preston. We've had enough "slick" and he needs to go.
Thanks again, Bob and Cindy, for staying on top of these power puppets and protecting the citizens against the self serving actions of Preston and his cronies on county council.
It's just plain exasperating to pick up the paper time and time again to learn that our council and Preston are fighting. What a waste of time and resources. My feeling is that the audit is long overdue to set the record on Preston straight. And as for the council - they just need to go...all of them.
Preston is toast, and he should know it. His contract is not worth the paper that it is written on.
Please quit posting the picture of Mr. Preston every time you write an article on him. You’re freaking me out…..
The whole letter issue from Preston is ridiculous. It's an attempt to get out with severence pay before he's kicked out with a lawsuit or worse.
The audit is long overdue. If there are no 'accounting problems' then there would be no protest concerning the audit. And Preston would have no problem being on paid leave during the audit. His actions alone tell the tale.
I am looking forward to all of ya'lls comments when you have allowed Bob Waldrep and Cindy Wilson destroy Anderson as we know it. Talk about false prophets.....
in response to StupidShouldHurtMore
We do NOT have term limits. Unfortunately very, very few people are willing to take on an incumbent and it costs a fortune to unseat one.
Eight years in each office is long enough.
The problem is that Mr. Preston has become THE issue in Anderson County and he is as much to blame as the councilmembers. All of them should resign and we can start over. Also, any department heads appointed by Mr. Preston should have their contracts reviewed by a new council.
The vote for County Council members was this summer. The new members come aboard in January.
Preston's contract is 'self-renewing.' If the termination clause is not followed to the letter, he receives a large chunk of our money. That is the reason behind his letter claiming to be terminated by future intentions of future board members. Now the issue is being reviewed by the personnel committe, which consists of a group of his supporters, most of who are being replaced in January.
Bob and Cindy have done a great job of speaking for the citizens of their district that is why they won the primary last June.
What Anderson county needs is recall!
and to rid the county of Mrs. Floyd next week.
Well it took some time to surface, but a direct contradiction of the propaganda that County Council came up with Joey Preston's contract has been discovered. This appears to be a direct quote from this news source.
"Knowing that reputation, Preston outlined his contract requirements to include provisions that would protect him from council member changes and would give him liberty to enact aggressive projects in the county. “When they offered me the job, I asked several times, ‘Are you sure you want me? Are you positive?’” Preston notes. “They said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘All right. This is what it's going to take: You're going to have to stay out of my business. Let me be the administrator, and the county council members are going to have to be policy makers.’"
http://americancityandcounty.com/mag/...
The URL called it long before we did. "high times joey". They must have had insight we overlooked.
OK, I have read the article that your URL points to Cindy, and I can not, for the life of me, figure out how you are going to try and use this against Joey Preston. That article offers nothing but glowing praise for him and outlines all of the good he has done for our community. The quote you provided, which I can only figure you are taking out of context, explains his salary demands and the reasons behind them very clearly. I do recommend that everyone read this article and see for yourselves that Joey is not the monster that certain people try to portray him as, on the contrary, it appears that he is simply their scapegoat.
in response to huzzah
How am I taking it out of context when it is directly from the article. The point is, it is another lie this newspaper and you shameless supporters of Preston tried to fool the public into believing. You remember, the lie that Joey wasn't the one to devise his onerous contract that allows him to bend us over under just about any conceivable circumstance.
Alot of water has passed under the bridge since 2002. Whatever Preston was then, is not what he is now. We were still living under the glow of the All American City and all the rest of his bought and paid for awards. We were fools then but we have smartened up considerably since.
You just got through talking about how you were tired of Preston's antics. Now suddenly he is your hero again. Flip floppers like you are our problem. Stand up on principal and your path will be clear. You can't say, "well I can put up with a little bending of the rules if we can see alot of benefits from it". Doesn't work that way.
Anything he has accomplished could have been accomplished by any competent county administrator. It takes a special breed of miscreant to do all the underhanded, secretive, self serving, power mongering things he has done. Only people serving their own interests are ignoring the latter to enjoy the Preston public trough. Did he give you a job, a contract, a free meal, buy you a drink, contribute to your favorite charity...what? No one licks political boots unless there is something in it for them.
Responses
1st Paragraph)
You are taking it out of context in the manner that the whole theme of the article is the good that Joey has done for the community. It explains why he insisted that these stipulations be included in his contract, and the good that has come from them. He did not write the contract, he just said that before he would agree to it these provisions must be included.
2nd Paragraph)
Yes, a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. Numerous lawsuits brought by Cindy Wilson and Bob Waldrep, several audits, untold amounts of ill will, etc, all to no effect, because there was no underlying need for them but the self-supporting antics of 2 members of the county council. Yes, I suppose you could say that the awards that Joey and the county have received were "bought and paid for." The county had not received these awards previously, so obviously improvements needed to be made in order to bring this county to a point at which it could be considered for any awards, this did require money. Additionally, since Mr. Preston was the administrator that pushed these changes through, and the previous administrators were not able to get any changes made that automatically puts him in the class to receive personal awards as well. Lastly, some of you were fools then and still are.
responses continued
3rd Paragraph)
First of all, if you will reread my post, the very first sentence states that I am a Preston supporter, I have not "flip-flopped". I did not say that I was tired of Mr. Preston's antics alone (as you try to make it sound), I said that I was tired of all of the squabbling by every member of the county government. Because of all of their bickering, our ENTIRE county government, not just Mr. Preston, has lost my respect and the respect of large portions of our community, therefore, I believe that they are no longer an effective governing body. I blame this more on the county council than on Mr. Preston, he is only defending his actions (which have been repeatedly approved by the majority of the council) and looking out for his honor and future.
4th Paragraph)
You say that all of his accomplishments could have been made by any competent administrator. First of all, by your own statement, you have just admitted that Mr. Preston is NOT incompetent as you so often claim. Secondly, I disagree that just any administrator could have accomplished these things, with our county council's penchant for penchant for disagreeing with and firing administrators, Mr. Preston had to be political, powerful, consistent, and convincing just to get anything accomplished. The fact that he has been able to make any of the changes he has with our council is not far short of miraculous. Yes, it does take a special kind of miscreant to perform all of the activities you mentioned, it is called a politician. Each and every single person in politics has to do all of these things daily, you have to vote for others' proposals so that they will vote for yours,in other words, you have to give a little to get a little. This is, if not the very definition of politics, at the least the practice of it in today's climate, not just in Anderson County, but everywhere. As for "self serving", I sure as hell hope that he is, if you are not doing a job that you are proud of doing, then why are you bothering to do it at all? He should be striving to receive accolades and approval from all who surround him. Lastly, Mr. Preston has not given me a job, a meal, a contract, or anything else, in fact, I have never met the man. What he has given me is a county with steady growth, a progressive economy, an increasing tax base, more governmental funded programs, better infrastructure (both civil and industrial), and more businesses at which to shop (which further benefits the local economy). In short, yes, by supporting Mr. Preston and his policies, there is something "in it" for me and everyone else in Anderson County, a better, more progressive future. By stifling these policies and reverting to the good old days, we will do nothing more than let our county revert to a stagnant backwater county, definitely not something to be proud of.
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