1986 opinion may have bearing on Westminster questions

A South Carolina Attorney’s General opinion written 34 years ago may apply to the heart of a legal dispute among Westminster city leaders.  At least, that’s the reading by some of what an assistant attorney general opined back then to a Newberry County attorney.  The assistant attorney general, Patrica Petway, responded to the question of whether a mayor or a council member may serve on a city council concurrently with his or her spouse being employed by the municipality. Petway noted in 1986 that her office by tradition would advise that the section of nepotism law , 8-5-10, applied to state departments only and not to political subdivisions such as cities or counties.  But she went on to say there are other considerations—and these are her words—“For example, if the spouse had been employed prior to the mayor or councilman taking office, the nepotism statute would not be applicable.”  That has been an argument by supporters of Westminster Councilman Reid Adams and his wife, Jennifer, the city clerk-treasurer.  They maintained that Mrs. Adams had been in her job long before her husband won a 2017 election to a four-year council term.  And they further contend that, considering that Mr. Adams had won the confidence of the voters, it’s unfair to re-impose a sentence in the city’s own nepotism policy that would prevent the councilman from completing his term in office.