Judgeship vote rushed, some say

3 councilmen say decision on Messervy should have waited

It was a rush to judgment, as well as a rush to a judgeship, three Summerville Town Council members say of a 4-3 vote to fill a municipal court vacancy.

Following a closed session June 11, the meeting was reopened and Councilman Ricky Waring nominated Dorchester County Magistrate James H. Messervy to a town judgeship. Waring said Messervy, as the only one of the court's four judges who is an attorney, would be the one who presides over jury trials.

Councilmen Bob Jackson, Howard Bridgman and Mike Dawson said council should postpone the vote. They argued that although Messervy might be the best qualified of the dozen applicants for the job, no vote had been planned for that night. The three councilmen also maintained that the vote violates a verbal agreement council reached recently concerning the filling of appointed positions.

Council voted 3-3 on Waring's motion to approve the nomination. The tie was broken by Mayor Berlin G. Myers.

Messervy, 62, said Thursday he was sworn in the morning after the vote and immediately conducted a jury trial.

Because he has already attended the judge's school the state holds just twice a year, Messervy is already bench-qualified, officials said.

Waring said it was a backlog in jury trials that caused him to push for the appointment without delay.

Opponents of the June 11 vote contend council had agreed to advertise vacancies and seek applicants from inside and outside of town. Jackson and Bridgman said council was informed only moments before the vote was called for that 12 applications had been received.

No one had had a chance to review the applications, Jackson and Bridgman said. Bridgman said council members favoring a new procedure want the town "to cast a wider net," to look beyond town limits and seek more diversity in race and opinions, when filling appointed positions. "We might be missing some people by going to the same folks all the time," Bridgman said.

Jackson said voting before reviewing applications or interviewing candidates clashed with the council agreement.

"We put out the advertising, so I would assume that the spirit of that is to actually look at them," Jackson said of the applications.

Waring said some council members asked the town to advertise the vacancy, but did not agree to any new policy.

Jackson and Bridgman said they will look into putting a new policy into the form of an ordinance, which would require a public hearing and three readings.