Copyright Charleston Post and Courier
CAYCE — The findings of a two-week long investigation into an employee complaint against Mayor Elise Partin blasts all five members of the city council for putting employees in uncomfortable positions with improper communication, overreach and hostility amongst each other. Ryan Hicks, of Columbia law firm White and Story, was hired on the recommendation of City Attorney Will Dillard as outside counsel to investigate a complaint of “improper communication” between a city employee and a member of council. Hick’s Oct. 30 report confirms that the councilmember named in the complaint was Partin. However, Hicks said that while the complaint was focused on Partin, he broadened the investigation into the conduct of all five councilmembers. He interviewed the entire council, City Manager Michael Conley, Assistant City Manager Wesley Crosby, former City Manager Jim Crosland, and several unnamed current and former employees. Hicks wrote that he was ultimately contacted by 20 people seeking to provide information or input on council conduct, including members of the public and third parties with whom the city does business. Partin has faced accusations for months of overreach from her fellow councilmembers and Crosland. Though she has denied it, Hicks said he found evidence that she had communicated with staff directly, which violated the city’s form of government. And while Hicks said she had the most direct contact with city employees, he said the other four councilmembers also did the same. The city is governed by a “council-manager” government, in which the council has the sole ability to hire a city manager to act as the executive administrator of the municipality. The city manager has complete control over staff and acts as a liaison between staff members and council. As such, all communication between council and staff should first go through the city manager. “Staff communications by members of Council, including the Mayor, must cease for the City to run effectively,” Hicks wrote in his report. “Only when the City Manager has been informed and directed a council member to communicate with staff should it occur, and that should only be in limited instances. Otherwise, councilmembers must take ownership in the applicable form of government and remain cognizant of their authority.” The complaint The investigation stemmed from a complaint by an employee that Partin had created a “hostile work environment” during an Oct. 7 council meeting. At the meeting, the council discussed reducing the members on the City of Cayce Election Commission from five to three to comply with state law. During the discussion, the members went back and forth about both the need for the commission and which of the members should be allowed to stay. During the discussion, District 4 Councilmember Phil Carter lamented how difficult it was to pick between “five valuable, good candidates.” In his report, Hicks writes that the employee “intervened that based on information that had been provided, two members of the commission had advised that they would not be available on the day of the election.” While Hicks identified the complainant only as Employee 1 in his report, City Clerk Mendy Corder was the city employee who interjected during the meeting Before doing so, she acknowledged that she might be “overstepping.” Based on Corder’s comments, Carter motioned to appoint the three remaining members to the commission. Partin told the other councilmembers she had spoken with one of the women Corder named, and that she thought she would be available on Election Day. Corder and Partin went back and forth for a few moments, with Corder saying she had an initial email from the woman that said she would not be able to work the election and no update since. Partin said that information should have been included in the council packet if they were to base their decision on it. According to Hicks’ report, Corder and Partin had an “interaction” after the council meeting during which Corder "perceived the Mayor’s comments during the meeting as an insinuation that she was not being truthful.” According to Hicks, Partin perceived the interaction as an attack on her, saying Corder “called her names and acted inappropriately.” The report details a witness account that Corder was “‘standing over’ Partin, was using inappropriate language, and making statements toward the Mayor about how she has changed, etc.” Ultimately, Hicks wrote that this interaction was more akin to a “misconduct” complaint than a hostile work environment, which is understood in South Carolina law to be based on an incident driven by race, gender, religion, national origin, age or a disability. Hicks found no evidence that the interaction between Partin and Corder met such a standard. Hicks concluded that Corder should not have intervened in the council discussion and that the information should have been included in the council packet. He acknowledged that, while the Mayor’s remarks “could be taken out of context and construed as an attack on Employee 1’s credibility,” he does not believe that was her intention. Hicks said Corder’s conduct should be reviewed under the employee handbook, since she is a member of the city’s staff. “Personal beliefs, feelings, or attacks are not a topic that should be engaged in during or even after Council meetings, especially at the dais,” Hicks wrote. “While disciplinary action toward Employee 1 is not recommended based on the circumstances of this case, the City Manager should meet with the employee to reiterate duties and expectations and to ensure Employee 1 has an understanding that interactions with council are equally important as interactions in the day-to-day workplace,” the report reads. As for the mayor, Hicks says Partin is not subject to the employee handbook, and neither state law nor city ordinance establishes expected behavior of a council member. He said the mayor could have handled herself differently but found no merit to the employee complaint. “As an elected official, councilmembers must always be mindful of their conduct and manner of communication, especially in public sessions,” Hicks wrote. “Partin could have used a better choice of words and also could have been more transparent in her purported communications with CCEC members. Nevertheless, it does not appear that what was perceived was intended and the interaction post-meeting does not support any finding or action against the Mayor.” A year’s-long pattern Hicks said the more concerning finding in his investigation was the "consideration of an ongoing, alleged theme of council member conduct.” “Based on the information provided, the pattern of councilmembers communicating with City employees has gone on for many, many years and predates the current Council,” Hicks wrote. In a footnote, he expanded on this thought, adding, “Prior council and city managers allowed this conduct, and it seems like there was rarely objection to it until recent years.” He referenced Crosland’s outgoing letter to council that detailed a workplace filled with “hostility and toxicity,” in which Partin was accused of micromanaging him. However, Hicks said that during an interview with Crosland, the former city manager admitted that “all members of Council, not just the Mayor, have contacted staff directly for various reasons,” but said he was normally copied on such communications. In interviews with prior Cayce city managers, Hicks found that “while prior City Managers voiced similarity in that it was common for Mayor to interact with staff, there was some disagreement on attempts to ‘micro-manage’ and in some instances it was perceived to be the Mayor’s attempt to help and/or save time.” Hicks blamed this on the fact that the mayor has historically been provided an office in City Hall. While Partin gave up her office when city staff needed extra space, Hicks said that “the providing of an office for only the mayor (as opposed to all councilmembers) implies the expectation — for both city staff and the mayor — that the mayor would likely be involved in day-to-day affairs. “Like most things, individuals become accustomed to conduct, and it thereafter begins to grow and expand; this is what has happened within the City of Cayce,” Hicks wrote. “For years, the Mayor, through no fault of her own, was empowered to communicate with employees directly.” The attorney said all council member communication with staff should cease immediately in order for the city to run effectively. Hicks recommendations Hicks’s report ended with a list of recommendations. He said the “council, including the Mayor, must learn to disagree better.” Hicks said that tensions between councilmembers is a driving concern among employees and subjects employees to an adverse working environment. He recommended that the council meet twice a year for workshops to help reestablish trust and transparency. The council has not met for a workshop since 2019. Hicks also suggested members attend the Municipal Association of South Carolina’s annual conference to learn more about the rules of governing and adopt a code of ethics to address council member conduct. “As recent as October 27, 2025, the Mayor circulated a draft of a Code of Conduct, which is a great starting point for Council to discuss,” Hicks wrote in a footnote to his findings. At an Oct. 27 special-called meeting, the council unanimously agreed to begin drafting a code of ethics and invite MASC to hold a workshop in January.
