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Since November 15, Fairfax mayor Dorothy Riley has claimed multiple times that the town council’s regular Nov. 20 meeting has been “canceled.” However, many of these claims appear to contradict with municipal law, and council members have described it as an attempt to delay the swearing in of the town’s recently elected officials.
Despite these messages, council members said the Nov. 20 meeting has not been canceled and that the candidates should show up to be sworn in.
Timeline of Mayor’s Claims
On November 15, Riley sent a note to town council members via email claiming that the upcoming Nov. 20 town council meeting was “canceled." At this council meeting, mayor-elect Butch Sauls and incoming council members Carl Love, Dorothy Kennedy and Tiffine Forester will be inaugurated.
“Due to unfinished Town business the regular scheduled council meeting for Monday, November 20th, 2023 has been canceled,” the document said. “The newly elected officials will be sworn in on Monday, December 18th, 2023 at our December council meeting.”
If gone into effect, Riley’s action would delay the inauguration of Sauls, Love, Kennedy and Forester, allowing the mayor and other outgoing public officials to serve 28 days beyond when their term ends. It would also keep in power Art Williams, a consultant who helps the town with administrative activities, as well as other administrators appointed by the council.
Town council member Phyllis Smart responded to the announcement Nov. 15 saying via email, “What unfinished business??? Are you serious, you can’t cancel a meeting just because you feel like it doesn’t benefit your own agenda.”
Forester is a current council member and will be sworn in for a second term on Nov. 20. Forester said she was shocked when the first note arrived, as rescheduling a meeting requires a vote of approval from the council.
“It came out of nowhere,” Forester said. “We had no clue. … There wasn’t no reason why we would’ve thought that anything would change.”
Two days later, on the morning of November 17, a note was sent via email from the Town of Fairfax’s email address to The People-Sentinel by the Town of Fairfax claiming “THE TOWN OF FAIRFAX COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20TH, 2023 HAS BEEN CANCELED.”
Several hours later, The People-Sentinel received another note from the Town of Fairfax’s email address claiming, “THE TOWN OF FAIRFAX REGULARLY SCHEDULED MEETING FOR MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20TH 2023 HAS BEEN CANCELED AND IS RESCHEDULED FOR MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27TH, 2023 AT 6:00 PM.” This note was also posted on the door outside of the Fairfax City Hall.
When The People-Sentinel spoke to Riley in person on Nov. 17, Riley said she makes the decision to reschedule meetings. Riley declined to comment further.
South Carolina Law
Fairfax’s lead attorney, Gwen Bampfield, said Riley did not talk to her before telling the council that the Nov. 20 meeting would be “canceled.”
In addition to saying that the Nov. 20 meeting was “canceled,” Riley’s Nov. 15 note also said the next time the council would meet would be Dec. 18, two months after the council’s previous October meeting.
These statements contrast with South Carolina municipal law, which says the “council must meet at least once in every month.”
In Fairfax, the town’s government operates under a council form of government, also called a weak mayor form of government. This gives the council all of the town’s legislative, policy and administrative power, while the mayor “has no additional statutory authority beyond that of other councilmembers,” according to the Municipal Association of South Carolina.
Additionally, Bampfield said “you have to have the majority of the council to agree to rescheduling or canceling the November meeting.”
Under South Carolina law, Riley does have the power to call a special meeting in which the council can vote to reschedule a meeting. However, both Smart and Forester said a special meeting never occurred to vote on rescheduling the Nov. 20 meeting, and the first they had heard of the meeting being “canceled” was from the Nov. 15 email.
State of the Nov. 20 meeting
Since Riley does not have the power to cancel or reschedule meetings, the Nov. 20 meeting will still happen as planned, as stated by Smart and Forester. Additionally, Smart said the council will swear in the new mayor and council members on Nov. 20, regardless of Riley’s claims that the Nov. 20 meeting has been “canceled” or rescheduled.
Smart said she has reached out to all of the recently elected officials and told them to show up to the Nov. 20 meeting as scheduled.
“We have alerted all of the people that have got their candidacy,” Smart said. “We are at the point right now where that’s what we are going to go for.”
Forester said she will also be at the scheduled Nov. 20 meeting, regardless of if Riley is in attendance.
“I will be there to show up to be sworn in,” Forester said. “Absolutely I will be there.”
