After serving nearly three decades as an Isle of Palms employee in various building, planning and zoning capacities, interim city administrator Douglas Kerr is now firmly in the position, following a contentious 6-3 vote during a special council meeting on Feb. 26.
Kerr’s hiring came approximately two months after former city administrator Desiree Fragoso stepped down at the end of December 2024 to take a position with the Municipal Association of South Carolina. Her pending departure led city officials to conduct a national search through Find Great People to fill the vacancy.
The filing deadline for the position was Dec. 31, 2024 during which time Kerr initially did not apply for the job before changing his mind. As an internal candidate Kerr was added to the mix after the external deadline passed based on discussions at the administration committee and council.
“We can confirm that Douglas Kerr applied,” said Christin Mack, FGP manager of public sector executive search. “Based upon his application review by the Administration Committee, he was selected to move forward in the interview process.
“Kerr’s resume rose above the other 79 applicants and three finalists. His 28 years serving with IOP in various capacities was cited as a key reason.
“Douglas was the only real choice we had,” said Councilman Blair Hahn. “He was the only candidate with experience managing a fire department, police department, recreation department, business community and a major resort with two golf courses. None of the other candidates’ experience in these areas came close.
”Councilman Rusty Streetman added that Kerr was his first choice partly because of his knowledge of “all the projects at hand and all the priorities we have on the island.
”Some of these priorities include: On-going beach renourishment efforts to battle erosion; adopting a Sea Adap-tation Plan to address rising ocean levels; hiring a new deputy administrator; building official and financial forecaster and presenting the city’s new Comprehensive Plan.
“There are numerous initiatives to be done over the next two years,” Kerr said. “However, I think the two biggest tasks will be getting the island’s beaches back to a healthy condition and sealing the back side of the island off from tidal inundation through drainage projects and a flood barrier to be built into the Wild Dunes golf course and the elevation of the Wa-terway Boulevard path.
”However, Kerr’s appointment sparked concerns among three dissenting council members – John Bogosian, Katie Miars and Scott Pierce. Bogo-sian said the entire process of Kerr being added as a candidate was improper and was not a full council decision. “We never had a vote to add him as a candidate.
”Bogosian added that while Kerr is a “great devoted city employee,” his own responsibility as an elected councilman was to select who he thought was the best person to fill “a critical leadership role for the city and thought one of the other candidates had more experience and was better qualified.”
Pierce went one step further, saying, “The hiring process was irreparably corrupted and unfair to all 79 appli-cants that followed the process from the start.”
“The three finalists possessed advanced qualifications in experience, supervision, education, plus brought long-established state and federal conections. All were clearly motivated by community service and career opportunity, versus only money,” Pierce said. “In my opinion, Isle of Palms will pay a premium for a missed opportunity to acquire the talent needed to provide the best long-term administrative leadership for our residents, visitors and businesses.”
But the hiring and the process weren’t the only objections. After Kerr was approved as the new city administrator, Hahn made a motion to “authorize staff to negotiate a salary package with Mr. Kerr, within the parameters discussed in executive session.”
The vote carried 5-4 in favor of the motion, and then again at the regular council meeting on March 25. Following an executive session to discuss the city’ administrator’s employment contract, council then voted 5-4 to renegotiate Kerr’s salary per his new role. A number of residents and all four dissenting council members spoke against the outcome, the process, and the renegotiation.
Councilwoman Jan Anderson said that while she thinks “Douglas Kerr will serve us well,” she did not favor the new compensation because “it is 25% or 30% more than our former administrator.”
Councilwoman Katie Miars Miars added, “I will never forgive myself for being a part of the city council that failed to give Miss Fragoso the pay increase that she deserved…that then turned around and gave a $38,000 pay increase to a man with less qualifications.”
According to the city’s public salary ranges for 2024, the city administrator’s annual pay rate is $142,473 with a maximum of $202,796. Kerr’s new salary was not disclosed at the meeting.
Mayor Phillip Pounds defended the process and decision partly due to Kerr’s longevity with the city. “In the last 5-plus years, we have had a new police chief, fire chief, recreation director and finance director and we have a couple more key retirements coming in the next 18 months,” Pounds said. “Institutional knowledge becomes more critical and important in addition to the basic skills to do the city administrator job. Douglas has been an exemplary employee of IOP for over 28 years and in my opinion was the right hire for us.”
Despite the internal hiring controversy, Kerr said he is ready to help resolve the island’s current challenges, as well as any new ones that arise.
“I happen to have worked a full career in a location that is prosperous and beautiful, so for me, these building blocks have contributed to my work being enormously rewarding,” Kerr added. “In the field of city planning, each day is a series of decisions or approvals or reviews that at the time seem mundane and ordinary, but as time passes those decisions begin to stack up and become visible in a community.”
By L. C. Leach III
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