Swansea, SC 11/12/2024 (Paul Kirby) – The Town of Swansea, SC’s Mayor Viola McDaniel is set to appear in the town’s court Thursday afternoon beginning at 4:00p.m. to answer a summons that accuses her of violating a town ordinance during a recent meeting. If the court is held and Mayor McDaniel is found guilty of what she is charged with, she can be fined up to $500 or sentenced to a maximum of thirty (30) days in jail.
Several council members are wondering if the court session can be held, however, because as of Tuesday, November 12, 2024, they were under the impression that Swansea has still been unable to find someone to act as the clerk of court, a position that is required to hold all court sessions. The individual needed for that position must have special training to record what happens in court, receive payment of fines, divide the fine between the appropriate entities, and help the town’s judge run the court smoothly. According to Swansea Police Chief William “Bill” Charlton, he is preparing for court as he normally would for all crimes such as traffic offenses and shoplifting that can be dealt with in the Municipal Court.
The charges against Mayor McDaniel stem from a procedural issue raised during a Special Called Meeting that was legally requested by Councilmember Michael Luongo and at least one other council member. How special meetings may be called is set forth in Article II, Section 2.40 of the Town of Swansea’s Code of Ordinances. Article II, Section 2 deals with how meetings are scheduled, presided over, and order is kept. It also lists the penalties for violating these ordinances.
According to Councilmember Luongo, he requested the meeting after Mayor McDaniel had been acting and running the town’s day-to-day operations as if Swansea’s official form of government was set up as a Strong Mayor form. She had been doing this for some time as Swansea tried to hire a town administrator to run the operations of the town.
In South Carolina, there are (3) three forms of government. There is the Strong Mayor form where the mayor is responsible for many of the day-today operations like human relations, much of the hiring and firing, overseeing department heads, and other responsibilities as spelled out by ordinance. The Town of Chapin, SC is one municipality in Lexington County that follows this form of government. In a Strong Council form of government, the council members are in charge but most often hire a town administrator to handle the day-to-day operations. In this case, the duties of the town administrator are spelled out by the council who oversees and hires and fires the administrator. Most Lexington County municipalities follow this form of government. The last form of the (3) three is the Council Manager form of government. This form is very much like the last except the municipalities mayor and council hires a manager and then they set the direction they would like to see the municipality head. It is the job of the municipal manager and his/her staff to get the municipality there. The form that a municipality follows is based on the way the town or city was chartered originally and cannot be changed by any one individual. In order to change the form of government, it requires a vote of the municipalities’ citizens.
In the case of Swansea’s Special Called Meeting in early October, Mayor McDaniel opened the meeting and then refused to recognize Councilmember Luongo so that he could speak. This is in violation of Ordinance Article II, Section 2.55. Councilmember Luongo raised a point of order and that was also ignored. When Mayor McDaniel flatly refused to follow the ordinance that set forth how a meeting should be run, Councilmember Luongo requested that she be cited for the violation under Ordinance Article II, Section 2.88 which spells out the penalty for violating the town’s Municipal Ordinances. At this point, Seargent Ty McComas with the Swansea Police Department issued Mayor McDaniel a ticket for her violation.
All of Swansea’s Municipal Ordinances are on their website. Interestingly enough, the (2) two particular ordinances that Mayor McDaniel is accused of violating are missing from the on-line Ordinances. This was recently called to the attention of several council members that have pledged to correct that. You can find all the Swansea Town Ordinances, except the missing page, by following this link. Swansea Town Ordinances
Some might ask, “How serious can this little spat be?” That too is interesting since it seems to be an inconsequential fuss between town officials. In fact, if Mayor McDaniel doesn’t show up for court Thursday at the appointed time, the town’s judge could find her guilty in her absence. This would be like you being summonsed to court for speeding or larceny and not showing up at the appointed time or paying the fine prior to court. In this case, the judge could issue a Bench Warrant for Mayor McDaniel that would then be passed to Swansea Police Chief Bill Charlton. He would need to serve the warrant and jail her. When asked if he would have a problem arresting the mayor Charlton said, “When I took this job, I raised my hand and swore to uphold the laws of Swansea, the State of South Carolina, and the laws of the United States. I also swore that I would do this fairly while following the laws set forth in the US Constitution. If a law like this is broken and I am given a warrant to serve, I would apply the law fairly and evenly no matter who the individual was.”
In South Carolina, it would not be a reach to then charge Mayor McDaniel with misconduct in office. A prosecutor such as Eleventh Circuit Solicitor Rick Hubbard would have to decide if what she did rose to this level. If she was charged with misconduct in office, Governor Henry McMaster could then remove her from her office pending trial. That’s what happened to Swansea’s Mayor Jerald Sanders who held the post before McDaniel. His case is still pending in the court system.
It remains to be seen what will happen with this case Thursday afternoon. We will try and update you once court has been held.
