We are calling on Greenville County Council to fire Greenville County Administrator Joe Kernell, even if it means giving him a full year of salary and benefits in order to remove him.His poor judgement and failure to plan for the needs of the county have resulted in untold costs and a crisis situation for our most basic safety services.

Mr. Kernell was the driving force behind a proposal to purchase the Fluor office buildings on Halton Road. According to the Greenville News, the county offered $33.1 million for these buildings that sold just over a year ago for $18.35 million. Mr. Kernell told council and the public that because there was another potential buyer, there was no time to get an appraisal and that none was needed. Since the motion to move forward with this purchase failed, Mr. Kernell has ordered an appraisal of these buildings.

When the Savannah Nabors lawsuit emerged and all of the fallout and chaos occurred at the GCSO, County Council passed a resolution asking Sheriff Lewis to resign. The incident which sparked this situation occurred in Charlotte, NC, where Sheriff Lewis, Ms. Neighbors and others were at a meeting with Mr. Kernell, Ms. Herman, and Mr. Hansley “to discuss budget issues.” This meeting was sanctioned by Mr. Kernell and to date has resulted in a significant cost the County.

In recent months it has come to light (through the media) that EMS has a very serious problem. It is understaffed, has been for the past several years, and did not have proper leadership. Since the EMS Director reports directly to the Administrator, it is his responsibility to see that issues like this are addressed and corrected before they become a crisis.

The Greenville County Sheriff's Office is struggling to hire and keep deputies because of the low compensation offered. This is not a new problem, nor one that would be difficult to anticipate, given the growth of Greenville County and the known compensation offered to deputies. This is Mr. Kernell's responsibility and it has reached a crisis level.

These are all major issues for which the county administrator is responsible. Mr Kernell is all too anxious to heap millions of dollars of new debt onto Greenville County residents but he's failed to address the basic needs of our county. We need someone who will look out for the interests of our county.