The town of Surfside Beach has selected Fire Chief, Rob Clemons, as interim administrator to fill the position left vacant after William Shanahan left the town for a job in Newport, North Carolina.
Shanahan was appointed as Surfside Beach town administrator in November 2020. He resignation is effective Dec. 17, 2022.
William Shanahan was hired in an attempt to change the administrative culture in the small coastal town.
Sources close to MyrtleBeachSC News, however, stated that Shanahan actually resisted efforts to investigate a bureaucratic forensic audit on the town as requested by multiple members of town council.
MyrtleBeachSC News wrote about the town’s need for an administrative forensic audit on October 23, 2022.
In a message posted on the Surfside Beach town website on Friday, Mayor Bob Hellyer said he was saddened by Shanahan’s decision. He also stated that the town council would meet Monday night in executive session to begin to plan for the town’s “direction in the coming months.”