Horry County Council has picked its new top employee
Horry County Council has picked who will lead its staff: Steve Gosnell.
At its Tuesday meeting, Council voted in a ballot system to offer the position to Gosnell, who is currently serving as the interim administrator. He beat three other finalists for the position.
“By a vote 11-1, congratulations to Mr. Steve Gosnell as the new county administrator,” Gardner said.
Gardner voted against Gosnell when he picked Jon Caime from Laurens County. He said he was pleased to see council united behind one candidate, and even though he didn’t vote for Gosnell, he is ready to work with him.
“I think Mr. Gosnell respects me, and I certainly respect him,” Gardner said. “We have unified this council to work together. I don’t think you’ll see any more split councils especially on issues that are not what the public perceives as important.”
The administrator serves as the top of the non-elected staff members who work for Horry County. It’s a position that reports directly to County Council and is responsible for implementing directives given by the elected body.
Gosnell has been a longtime employee of Horry County with 26 years of experience in the infrastructure sector of government. Since April when he took over as interim administrator, he oversaw the passing of the fiscal year 2020 budget, which included pay raises for the staff.
While he is a longtime employee, Gosnell said he is ready to bring change. His first step is to fill empty positions and get the right people in leadership.
“I’m glad council has confidence in me. I am ready to move forward,” Gosnell said. “We have a lot of positions to fill and then we will start addressing the business of council.”
Before the vote, Council Member Danny Hardee addressed leaders of the fire department about firefighter retention and making sure staff members felt they could speak out when they feel they’ve been wronged. Gardner said Gosnell is the man to help the situation.
“If we do things the way we want to do them, we’re not going to have employees scared to death at work,” Gardner said. “I think Gosnell has a good relationship with the people here.”
While he has the job, the question still remains as to what Gosnell’s compensation package will look like in his new role and for how long he will be contracted to hold the position. In his previous job, he was paid $174,836 as assistant administrator.
The previous Administrator Chris Eldridge was paid more than $200,000 and also received benefits that included a car allowance. Moving forward, a special committee of council members will be formed to hammer out the details of Gosnell’s contract.
Gardner said he hopes to have a contract ready by the next county council meeting on Aug. 13.
This story was originally published July 9, 2019 at 7:21 PM.
