Chapin Mayor Bill Mitchell found himself all alone at the latest Chapin Town Council meeting when the rest of council didn’t return from a five minute recess during the heated unscheduled meeting on Thursday, September 10.
The meeting was called to discuss the hiring of a new town attorney and the possibility of replacing the current municipal clerk when Mitchell accused a council member of disrupting the meeting. Mitchell called the chief of police into the room. Councilman Warren Burritt had asked a question about the interpretation of the law as applied to the mayor and town employees. “If you disrupt this meeting….I will ask the chief of police to escort you out of this building,” said Mitchell.
The mayor called for the recess when Mitchell made a motion to adjourn the meeting which was seconded by Councilwoman Ainslee Bost. Mitchell said it was an illegal motion which caused an argument among the council. After Mitchell left the dais the other council members also left the building. As the council left the building Mitchell stated
Mitchell returned and sat alone for five minutes and then resumed the meeting and accused his fellow council members’ actions as unethical. The vote to replace the town’s clerk will be taken by council after they receive input from an attorney.
The town still has not hired an official attorney and Mitchell would like the SC Municipal Association to provide guidance on town government.
