By admin 
Changes to the town of Chapin’s operations pushed through by the town council Thursday night could land the town in court against its own mayor.
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Mayor Bill Mitchell said during a specially-called council meeting he would go to court to seek a declaratory judgment that council’s attempt to control the hiring of a new attorney violates his legal power as a “strong mayor” to manage town affairs.
“I take the position that you are breaking state law,” Mitchell told his four council colleagues. “I’ll go to court and a judge can decide. Then you’ll want to hire your own attorney, and the town will end up paying for both of them.”
The threat didn’t stop the council from adopting an ordinance that vests the power to hire, remove, fund and direct the town attorney in Chapin Town Council. It passed 4-1, with Mitchell voting against.
Thursday’s vote was the latest turn in the first nine months as mayor for Mitchell. He argued he’s saved the town money and managed the town more efficiently since he eliminated the position of town administrator — the official who had overseen town staff — and took on the responsibility himself as a “full-time mayor.”
But council members said Mitchell had shut them out of decision-making and left them without outside legal advice on the town’s actions.
“This ordinance is just to make it clear that the attorney works for the council, not just for you,” Councilwoman Ainslee Bost told the mayor. “We want to be able to hire attorneys and talke to them so that we know what’s going on.”
Under questioning from council members Thursday, Mitchell said he had hired at least three separate attorneys during his stint as mayor so far. One he said he fired after she failed to show up for an executive session meeting with council members, and another resigned when she disagreed with Mitchell over a hiring decision — she told him the town needed a certified public accountant as finance director, but he ultimately hired a master’s in accounting “at a fraction of the cost,” he said.
“She’s a brilliant attorney, but I’m the mayor and I made the decision,” he said, justifying the decision by saying, “I was on that hall by myself for seven weeks, and one missed payment could shut down the town.”
The statement points to another complaint of council members. Several other town staff have left since Mitchell was elected mayor of the town of 2,000 last November, including one town clerk who accused him in a police report of assaulting her. After an investigation by the S.C. Law Enforcement Division, no charges were brought.
Council members voted Thursday to shift the power to create any town offices or departments to the town council by another 4-1 vote.
Councilman Warren Burritt told Mitchell he didn’t believe he should be hiring any attorney without input and approval from council, and that such a move by the mayor may waive any legal responsibility of the town to pay them. Mitchell said he believed he has the authority to enter into contracts with outside counsel as long as he stays within the town budget. He suggested the town would be better off consulting attorneys as needed or reaching out to the attorney general’s office for legal opinions rather than hiring an attorney full-time.
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“He would be a broker for specialized attorneys, and we can do that without a town attorney,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell was granted expanded authority to make hiring and firing decisions for key town positions — although not the town attorney — in January, when the council voted 3-2 in favor of the move. Newly-elected members Burritt and Bost voted with Mitchell at that time in favor of enhancing the mayor’s power.
When asked by his colleagues Thursday, Mitchell said the town currently has contracted attorneys, David Black of Columbia and Bubba Samuels of Buford, Ga. He estimated he has spent $17,500 on attorneys so far this year.
“It was almost a million dollars a year before, and they didn’t win a single case,” Mitchell said.
The town council members appeared to find out in that moment exactly who the town’s attorneys are.
“I thought you fired him,” Councilwoman Vicki Shealy said when Black’s name was mentioned.
Only last week, Chapin Town Council took the first steps to rolling back Mitchell’s powers, especially creating a buffer between the mayor and the town attorney by designating two other council members to act as liaisons between the mayor and the council.
The four council members besides the mayor are moving quickly after at July 21 vote on Mitchell’s nine-month tenure as mayor. Chapin Town Council voted 4-1 that it had no confidence in Mitchell’s leadership and members called on the mayor to resign. Again the only dissenting vote on the measure was Mitchell’s.
The town attorney is seen as a key post as the town eyes a legal showdown with Lexington County over the proposed construction of 600 new homes on county-owned property just outside the town limits. Mitchell has refused to connect the development to the town’s sewer system, arguing it would put too much of a strain on Chapin’s wastewater treatment plant. Lexington County has vowed to enforce a 2015 agreement with the town to provide sewer service to the property.
But Mitchell said proudly Thursday that no lawsuits have been filed against the town during his tenure.
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“I think they’re a little afraid to cross me,” Mitchell said.