Fort Mill leaders say they are in no rush to pick a new town manager

Fort Mill's new town manager will come from a talented and qualified group, town leaders say. They just won't say when.

As of Friday, there wasn't a timeline in place for hiring the new town manager. In May, Dennis Pieper signed on to become town manager at Surfside Beach after serving in the same role since 2013 in Fort Mill. Prior to that, he was city manager in Tega Cay from 2011 to 2013.

Pieper starts in Surfside Beach on July 16. Fort Mill took resumes to replace him through June 19. After Pieper's resignation was announced, the town named long-time public works leader Davy Broom as interim town manager.

Town leaders say resumés came from near and far in the search for a manager.

"It's going fine," said Councilman Larry Huntley. "We've got probably a couple dozen resumes, from as far away as Arizona."

Huntley said there were plenty of strong applicants, but he isn't sure when the final pick will emerge.

"I don't know yet," Huntley said. "We're in the process of narrowing it down to a few, and then we'll bring them in for interviews and see what it does from there."

Mayor Guynn Savage said Friday she doesn't want the open job to linger, but town leaders also want to make the right pick.

"We don't want to hurry," she said.

Savage said there are good choices for the town to consider.

"We were pleased with the response," she said. "We got candidates from all across both Carolinas, and some from across the country."

Part of the reason the town isn't in a big rush is Broom's leadership in the interim. On Friday town leaders discussed major utility decisions either in the works now or expected in coming months during town budgeting. That area in particular is expertise for Broom, though in decades with the town he is familiar with more than just utilities.

"We're blessed — blessed — to have him," Savage said.

Councilman Chris Moody said his group spent several hours at its initial meeting to review resumes.

"Many qualified candidates have applied," he said. "Interviews are the next step."

This story was originally published July 7, 2018 at 11:00 AM.