As a community we are entitled to know why, when high profile people leave public positions, the reason why. We’ve had several of these this year, and none have been explained.
Officials hide behind the “personnel” exclusion for public information, but that just won’t fly. Public and private institutions want our support - they have a responsibility, too.
The media is not attacking you when it asks a valid question. If you work in the fast food industry, nobody cares why you left the job. If your job is managing a city or county or football team, people do care why you are gone. Taxpayers and alumni have a right to know the truth.
Clinton parted ways with city manager Bill Ed Cannon. He resigned. No reason given.
Laurens County parted ways with county administrator Jon Caime. He was let go. No reason given.
Presbyterian College parted ways with football head coach Tommy Spangler. He was let go. No reason given.
In Caime’s case, we were pretty much told it’s none of our business. Employees can be shielded, we were told, even though state law makes a definite distinction between public and private employees - public employees whose salary is more than $50,000/annual are a matter of public record. That dates to the ‘70s - when $50,000 was a lot of money - so it’s probably out of date, but the law still exists.
Presbyterian College initially made no public statement about Spangler, even though word leaked out last Tuesday. In football, it’s amazing how quickly excitement can go to “Huh?” The Blue Hose won their fourth game of the season, their first winning record since 2014, with a thrilling four point win over Drake (with whom PC has no rivalry tradition in any sport) and they traveled hundreds of miles to do so - that was Saturday, then by Tuesday their coach was sacked. “Not extended a contract renewal” probably will be the officials terms, but in the world of NCAA college athletics, that’s fired. Happens to a lot of coaches, not to many who guide their teams to the first winning season in 7 years - and their team looks good on the field doing it.
You cannot find a more experienced coach than Tommy Spangler - after stints at Georgia Southern, PC once, Louisiana Tech, then PC twice. Spangler has proven his loyalty to Presbyterian College over and over - he does not say much publicly (COVID protocols meant he could not speak after games this season), but when he does speak, players listen. Anyone who’s heard him at the Laurens County Touchdown Club knows that. Spangler has labored long and hard in the tradition of Cally Gault and Harold Nichols to make the most of his, and his players‘ and coaches‘ situations. He does not deserve to be ushered out in the dead of night.
This piece was written April 21, so there could be some PC statement released at some point. Will it answer or sidestep the question — why?
