Some unsolicited advice for Cayce’s third city manager in a year | Opinion
Cayce has a new city manager, its third in the past 12 months, a period of peak Midlands instability that is rivaled only by the turnover at my job where three opinion editors came and went between 2019 and 2022 and the position was vacant for a year and a half before me.
I now have 15 months on the job, so I’m just the person to give some unsolicited advice to the manager of a city where officials don’t stick around. None of my three predecessors lasted 14 months! With the right approach, City Manager Michael Conley can buck Cayce’s trend, too.
He can start, as I did, by vowing to listen and by pledging an open, respectful way of dialoguing and doing business. That’s mostly working for me though I do get some hate mail. Disagreeing agreeably is how I’ve expanded our offerings and readership in recent months, doubling our print opinion section from one page to two — no small feat when newspapers are shrinking — and launching a digital newsletter with South Carolina voices.
I’ve invited readers into my process, asking for their feedback, sometimes publishing it, always taking their input as seriously as I do the job itself. More government officials, more journalists, should uphold the public trust like this.
Being a journalist isn’t that different from being a public official. When the jobs are done the right way for the right reasons, both work to protect people, to keep communities safe, to keep civic conversations civil and respectful, to earn the respect of residents and voters, to work for them.
Here’s how Cayce’s top administrator might do that.
First, let’s welcome him. He was elevated from deputy city manager to the top job this week, though not without some of the dissension that has defined Cayce lately. Last year, as The State’s Hannah Wade has reported, Mayor Elise Partin accused fellow City Council members of illegally colluding to oust her from a number of local governing boards and in July she was the lone vote against accepting a separation agreement with six-year city manager Tracy Hegler.
On Monday, the City Council appointed Conley city manager and the mayor was again alone in opposition. Partin praised other candidates but also said she would support Conley “100%” after the council voted 3-1 to direct city staff to appoint him and negotiate a contract with him.
Some more unsolicited advice from me? Choosing people for high-profile positions without locking down their salary or terms of employment is not fiscally prudent. Cities should announce their selections after a process that is as public as possible yet also financially responsible. Making an announcement before making the terms of a deal final raises questions and risks.
For his part, Conley’s predecessor, Jim Crosland, made $160,000 a year and received a $6,000 annual car allowance. Crosland, by the way, was hired as Irmo’s new town administrator after announcing his retirement from Cayce as one of the series of public servants who have left. It’s not a great look for Cayce when someone retires from public service then pursues it elsewhere.
As Wade has reported, Crosland was the second city manager to leave in less than a year, two police chiefs have left since July and the finance director recently announced her departure, too.
To build a better culture and do meaningful work on behalf of the nearly 14,000 residents in Cayce, Conley needs to stop the top employee exodus and promote topnotch transparency.
Such openness seemed to be lacking at a May meeting when the council discussed hiring a new city manager in private. Mayor Partin wanted the council to discuss it in public, saying, “All we’re doing is looking at a job description. That’s neither contractual nor personnel, which would make it [eligible for] executive session.” Her colleagues overruled her, cool with their secrecy.
Maybe Conley will push for more openness now that he has the job. It would be a good start.
This story was originally published June 25, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Some unsolicited advice for Cayce’s third city manager in a year | Opinion."