This Week in Landrum……
This Week in Landrum
From the City Administrator’s Office • Monday, August 31, 2026
A Note from the Administrator
There is a temptation, in almost any leadership role, to treat every question as urgent, every decision as needing to happen this week, and every problem as needing to be solved right now. Some things really are urgent. Most are not. And in local government in particular, the pressure to move fast often runs directly against the value of doing something right. The world does not stop. Meetings still happen. Bills still come due. Growth continues to knock on the door. And yet, taking the time to slow down long enough to make sure the work is being done well, in the right order, with the right people at the table almost always pays off in the end. That belief is one of the through-lines of the work happening in Landrum right now.
“Slow” gets a bad reputation. In practice, what looks slow from the outside is often deliberate: gathering the right facts, hearing from the right voices, letting the City Attorney draft carefully, giving Council the time to think before it votes, and publishing the agenda a week ahead so residents can actually see what is coming before it arrives. Every one of those steps takes real time. Every one of them makes the resulting decision more durable, more defensible, and more likely to actually solve the problem it is meant to solve. Cities that consistently choose deliberate over hurried tend to spend less money over the long run, weather transitions more gracefully, and generate less regret. That is the trade we keep trying to make.
You can see that principle in a lot of what has been in this letter over the past several months. The proposed data center moratorium is, quite literally, a pause built for exactly this purpose. The planning and zoning inventory and assessment is a deliberate look at our own rules before we react to any single project. Council’s decision to establish quarterly public work sessions dedicated to long-term planning is another version of the same instinct: less time-pressured, more forward-looking conversations. The permanent City Administrator search, discussed just below, is being run with the same discipline. Speed is not the goal. The right outcome is.
On the City Administrator search, an update. Caitlin Cothran, formerly Caitlin Martin, and herself a former Landrum City Administrator, is working alongside me and with Council to fill the permanent role. Caitlin’s history in this seat gives her a rare and valuable perspective on what Landrum specifically needs from its next full-time administrator. Council will discuss the candidate pool and next steps in executive session at next week’s meeting. The current goal is to have finalists in Landrum for in-person interviews by the end of September or, at the latest, early October. This is a decision that will shape the city for years, and it deserves the deliberate pace we are giving it.
On the finance side, the Municipal Association of South Carolina will be on-site in Landrum this week to assist with the ongoing financial transition and to support our new Chief Financial Officer as they settle into the role. This kind of hands-on partnership with MASC is exactly the peer-network value we have talked about in earlier letters. It is a chance to make sure the internal controls, workflows, and recordkeeping practices that carry us into the October independent third-party audit are set up correctly from the start.
On a personal note, as I continue to wind down my time as Interim City Administrator, my hours in Landrum are stepping down accordingly. I will be on-site up to twenty-four hours per week going forward. Deputy City Administrator April Williams is fully in the driver’s seat day-to-day, and the transition is proceeding on the schedule we set at the start. Anything requiring my attention will reach me, and I remain reachable to Council, staff, and residents whenever needed.
As I have noted the past several weeks, we are inside an intentional transition, and Deputy City Administrator April Williams will be sharing, and then taking over, authorship of this letter in the coming weeks. As a reminder, I am continuing my law practice in Tryon and instructing at a North Carolina fire academy from time to time. I am generally in the office at City Hall on weekday mornings within the reduced schedule described above.
A Note from the Deputy City Administrator
The folks here at City Hall are some of the hardest working folks I have ever known. Local government employees often wear multiple hats yet continue to provide the best service possible. As JJ mentions, things are sometimes slower and while all of the reasons he states are absolutely accurate, on occasions it is because we are juggling those hats. Even though City Hall is open from 8:30am-4:30pm many of our staff members work hours that are outside of those times. Tricia, our PR/Marketing Director, is out organizing and setting up ALL of the city events as well as maintaining all of the normal duties. Our streets maintenance staff often gets called in for emergencies such as downed trees and issues at our city facilities. They come in on Saturdays or work late nights and they still show up every day to keep the city looking beautiful. So, when you are out and you see our city staff take a second to thank them for making this city as truly beautiful as it is. We may not get an answer to you as fast as you think it should be or have a solution to an issue as promptly as you want it, but it is, as JJ explains, more because we want to do the right thing. As always, we welcome discussions. We offer many forums, such as our Coffee with the City, monthly council meetings or an open-door policy at City Hall. Stop by for a chat.
What Happened This Week
• Continued work on the permanent City Administrator search alongside Caitlin Cothran (formerly Caitlin Martin, former Landrum City Administrator), including initial interviews and preparation for the executive-session discussion with Council at next week’s meeting.
• Finalizing next week’s Council work session and Business Meeting agendas; anticipated items are summarized in the Council pipeline document on the City’s website. Full agendas and packets will be posted tomorrow, a week in advance consistent with our publication standard.
• Continued Fiscal Year 2025-2026 close-out activities and pre-audit preparation for the October engagement with our third-party independent auditors.
• Continued cross-jurisdictional coordination with Spartanburg County, including on Cardinal Point RV Park and other projects near the city’s border.
• Continued Frolich Property conservation easement work toward closing.
• Continued planning and zoning inventory and assessment with the City Attorney.
• Finalizing on-boarding of our new IT provider, Acumen.
• Continued International Property Maintenance Code enforcement program rollout.
What We’re Working on Now
• Preparation for next week’s Council work session and Business Meeting, including the executive-session discussion of the City Administrator search with Council. Agendas will be posted tomorrow evening, Tuesday September 1.
• MASC on-site this week to assist with the ongoing financial transition and to support our new Chief Financial Officer, with focus on internal controls, workflows, and pre-audit readiness.
• Continued work with Caitlin on candidate outreach, screening, and interview logistics for the permanent City Administrator role, with a goal of finalists in Landrum for in-person interviews by end of September or, at the latest, early October.
• Drafting balanced growth-management options with the City Attorney for future Council consideration.
• Planning the quarterly public long-term planning work sessions Council intends to establish; dates and format to follow.
• Implementation planning for the new municipal court system, which must be in place by December 31, 2026.
• Frohlich Property easement finalization.
• Coordination with School District One on site plans for the new school.
• Continued engagement with the South Carolina Main Street Program
• Maintenance and improvement discussions with Spartanburg County Parks and Recreation District.
• Standing by to assist the Northside (Simmons St.) Park property owners as they clear title through the probate courts.
Looking Ahead
• This week: MASC on-site in Landrum for financial transition and CFO support.
• Next week: Council work session and Business Meeting. Executive session will include the City Administrator search discussion. Anticipated items are in the pipeline document; full agenda and packet will be posted a week in advance.
• End of September / early October: in-person interviews with City Administrator finalists anticipated in Landrum.
• October: engagement with our third-party independent auditors begins for the FY 2025-2026 audit.
• Coffee with the City: Thursday, September 10, 2026 at Bojangles-Landrum at 9:00am.
• Patriot Day 9/11 Ceremony at the Landrum Depot at 6:00pm.
• Hogback Mountain Day, Saturday, September 12, 2026 from 10:00am-4:00pm.
• Landrum High School Homecoming Parade, Thursday, September 17, 2026 at 4:00pm.
• Continued follow-up engagement on the Saluda Grade Trail. More information at saludagradetrail.org.
• Every Saturday, 8:00am–12:00pm: Landrum Farmers Market.
• Landrum Rail & History Museum opens every Saturday from 10:00am-2:00pm through October 31st.
Questions or concerns? Reach us at 864.457.3000 or requests@cityoflandrumsc.com. We always want to hear from you.
Respectfully,
J.J. Sauve, Interim City Administrator
April Williams, Deputy City Administrator
Tricia Taber, Communications Director