The tug-of-war for the center of political power at Chapin Town Hall continued last week when council members introduced ordinances that would give them a clearer role in the town’s legal affairs and internal structure, a move that Mayor Bill Mitchell characterized as trying to usurp his authority.

A week after council members unanimously expressed a lack of confidence in Mitchell’s leadership and asked him to consider resigning, the four councilmen and -women initiated changes to town laws in a July 30 meeting. Two of the proposed ordinances relate to the municipal attorney and one to the town departments.

Mitchell opposed the proposals, saying they represented council members’ attempts to grab power that belonged to him under Chapin’s “strong mayor” form of government. The proposals are on track to pass at the next council meeting since it has majority support from the body, a group that includes the mayor.

“I would take the same position that you are breaking South Carolina law to vote in such an ordinance,” Mitchell said at the live-streamed special meeting, which bore none of the gavel banging and raised voices of the previous meeting. 

“I see no reason to move forward,” he said in measured tones.  

Council members denied they were trying to encroach on the mayor’s authority. Instead, they said, the four of them just wanted to claim the powers given to them as elected officials. 

“These proposals are about good governance,” said Councilwoman Ainslee Bost, the mayor pro tem. “They are about aligning our ordinances with South Carolina law, providing clarity regarding the respective responsibilities of the mayor and council.“

What council members want

Council members cited several reasons for their no-confidence vote on the mayor July 21, including that Mitchell lacked transparency with them and treated them in a domineering manner. 

They also said his management style has resulted in a high turnover of town personnel since he took office last November, including a revolving door of municipal attorneys.

They initiated the following three ordinances:

1. Amendment: Clarifying that the authority to create and establish town offices, departments and sections is vested in the town council.
   
   
2. Amendment: Clarifying that council has the exclusive authority to appoint and remove the municipal attorney, define the scope of the municipal attorney's representation of the town, authorize the retention of legal counsel and authorize the expenditure of town funds for legal services.
   
   
3. New addition: Establishing council liaisons for communications with the town attorney and/or special legal counsel and defining the authority of legal counsel and town officials with respect to legal representation of the town.

The first proposed amendment removes “mayor” from the existing text, which states that the “mayor and council” have the authority to establish town offices, departments and sections. 

Mitchell accused council members of “stripping” the mayor of his council vote. Councilman Mike Clonts responded that everyone’s voting power would remain the same, since the mayor is a member of council.

When asked about the need for this rewording, Bost told the Chronicle it was a guardrail to prevent the mayor from continuing to act unilaterally.

Clonts said council members introduced two proposals involving the municipal attorney, because they wanted access to legal counsel given how heavily Mitchell has leaned into the “strong mayor” part of his job.

“Is he correct in his interpretation?” said Clonts, currently the longest-serving member of council, with a decade in office. “Are we conducting meetings right?”

Whose interpretation is correct?

Mitchell wants to get the opinion of the S.C. attorney general’s office on the proposed ordinances, believing they ran afoul of the town’s form of government. 

“They're slapping the hand of the citizens of this town, saying it doesn't matter what form of government you chose, we are going to, by ordinance, operate under another form of government,” he told the Chronicle. “That is hostile behavior 101.”

He is hoping to hear back from the attorney general’s office before council members call another special meeting to enact the ordinances.

Bost, in the interview, said council members had done their homework: they consulted two attorneys for free before introducing the proposals. 

Council members, she said, plan to conduct a second and final reading of the proposed ordinances on Aug. 6. 

Mitchell took office in an impromptu swearing-in last November, rather than the statutorily provided date in January, citing the death of his predecessor weeks before the November election. 

Since then, the town hall has experienced upheavals. 

The town clerk of court at that time accused Mitchell of physically assaulting her just before his oath taking. Mitchell denied the allegation, which the S.C. Law Enforcement Division investigated. SLED decided not to bring any criminal charges.

Chapin has eliminated the position of town administrator after Mitchell took on a full-time role in running the town. Other key employees also departed, including the finance director.