Maayan Schechter

The Greenville News

Signs of a struggle among members of Greenville County Council are becoming more obvious, and the fight could end up in court.

One councilman said Tuesday another lawsuit could be filed given the recent restructuring of county committees.

Councilman Joe Dill, who found himself stripped last week of his chairmanship on the county's Public Works and Infrastructure Committee, said he was surprised to learn in a July 21 letter sent by Council Chairman Butch Kirven he would no longer lead the five-person committee.

Dill's colleague, Willis Meadows, also found himself ousted as chairman of the Finance Committee last week after chairing the committee for more than two years.

"The only reason they are taking me off is because they don't like anybody who questions them," Meadows said referring to a lawsuit filed by him, Dill and others accusing the county of neglecting to follow their own rules when they initially passed two fee increases in March.

The committee changes became effective July 22.

"It was a big shock to me, because I didn't have an idea they would do that," Dill said by phone Tuesday.

Dill also is alleging he knows of "secret meetings," one at a restaurant, where a quorum of council met to discuss the changes. Kirven denied the accusation.

Kirven said he wasn't aware of any meetings. He also said he had never been a participant in a gathering where "anywhere close to being a quorum was present."

"When you have two people together on County Council, drinking a cup of coffee, is that a meeting?" Kirven said.

Dill, among others on council, will be heading to Hilton Head this weekend for the annual conference of the South Carolina Association of Counties, Kirven said. There, he said, council members can discuss "anything that comes up, but they can't take any actions."

Council meets next on Aug. 15, where, Dill said, he plans to notify Kirven, county attorney Mark Tollison and council that if the committees aren't reorganized, a legal opinion will be sought and legal action could be taken.

'Unprecedented' moves

Calling the move "regrettable" and "unprecedented" in the same sentence, Kirven wrote in a July 21 letter distributed to council that doing nothing to shuffle the committees would "only validate the unprecedented and unnecessary actions that brought about this troublesome situation in the first."

The letter was provided to The Greenville News on Tuesday. Kirven acknowledged he wrote the letter.

The situation started in March, when seven of 12 council members voted to increase two fees: a nearly $15 telecommunications fee and a $10 increase to the road maintenance fee that at the time was $15.

That move resulted in a complaint filed days later at the Greenville County Courthouse by Dill, Dill's wife, Meadows and Councilman Michael Barnes, along with four South Carolina House members.

It was the first time council members had sued their own governing body.

The complaint accused council of neglecting to follow a 2004 ordinance that said council must have a "supermajority" of nine votes to increase any fees or taxes.

Council later repealed the ordinance, changing the vote count to a seven-member majority for a fee increase and eight-member majority to pass any tax increases, general obligation bonds and supplemental appropriations.

Both fees were approved, again, in June.

Since then, tension has built up among council members, which came to light last week at a committee of the whole meeting where some on council flung verbal jabs at one another.

"It is an unhappy and unnatural condition when County Council becomes infected by discord and dissension as it sadly is at this time. It hurts everyone," Kirven wrote. "The source of the problem is the failure of some Council members to work with others constructively and in good faith resulting in loss of trust and faith among colleagues."

On July 18, council voted 9-3 to shift more control to the council chairman, giving more legroom to pick the head of the finance committee, similar to how other committee chairs had been chosen.

Previously, the person elected vice chair of council would automatically become chair of the finance committee. It was the only committee that operated that way.

Meadows and Dill, who both opposed the measure along with Barnes, criticized the vote as a move to silence those who had tacked their name onto the suit.

"If you're going against the grain of three-fourths of council members, then you're probably not doing something right," Kirven said.

Kirven said the rule change wasn't just about the lawsuit, but a disruption to the entire council from within.

"As I told council at the last Committee of the Whole meeting, if eight or nine (council members) ever come to me and say, 'We don't think you're doing a good job as chairman,' they don't have to vote. They will have my immediate resignation," Kirven said. "Any council member in leadership ought to feel the same way."

Greenville attorney Robert Childs, who is representing Dill, Meadows and Barnes in the lawsuit, called the rule change "unprecedented by Greenville County perspective."

"Certainly it's not contemplated by state law," Childs added.

In January, council adopted several changes to their rules, one of which addressed committees.

Part of the rule change, according to council documents, states "... the Chairman may change committee membership as merited; and make such additional appointments as needed due to the inability of any Council member to attend meetings."

The latter half of the rule sought to address issues related to the late Councilwoman Lottie Gibson's continued absences from meetings due to health reasons.

By placing a period at the end of the rule in Kirven's letter — "That during the course of the two year term, the Chairman may change committee membership as merited" — Childs and Dill said Kirven appears to be trying to misquote the rule.

Kirven said that wasn't the intention, but to point that the two rules work independently, though they are outlined in the same rules covering committees.

The lawsuit

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit accusing Greenville County Council of failing to abide by their own rules have every intention to pursue their case in court, Childs said.

Childs said they asked for a temporary injunction long before the defense filed a motion to dismiss.

A defense motion filed on July 7 states Dill, Meadows and Barnes "lack standing to pursue this action pursuant to (state Supreme Court case) Newman v. Richland City. Quite simply a council member may not attack a decision of (his) own body through the courts, even under the guise of appearing as a citizen and tax-payer."That court case, Childs said, refers to a commissioner with Richland County, but not a member of County Council.

"All of our plaintiffs aren't just council members, they're taxpayers," Childs said. "None of those plaintiffs have filed a lawsuit in their capacity as a member of the delegation."

Childs said he foresees a court hearing as soon as early August.

Attorneys for the defense did not return comment by press time.