This Week in Landrum……
This Week in Landrum
From the City Administrator’s Office • Tuesday, July 21, 2026
A Note from the Administrator
Last week the Municipal Association of South Carolina hosted its Annual Meeting in Greenville. It is one of the most useful weeks on the local-government calendar. Hundreds of mayors, councilmembers, administrators, clerks, attorneys, and department heads from across the state come together to share what is working, what is not, what is coming, and how to help each other through it. It is a professional conference in the same way a family reunion is a professional conference. You leave it with new ideas, sharper questions, and a bigger phone book.
What makes MASC and organizations like it so valuable is a simple truth about local government: no city has to invent this alone. Every hard problem Landrum is working on right now, from updating a business license process to standing up code enforcement, drafting a noise ordinance, transitioning a clerk’s office, implementing a new court system, and planning around a rail-trail, has already been worked through by dozens of other small South Carolina cities. Not perfectly, and not always in a way that fits us exactly, but well enough to give us a running start. Pride sometimes makes us want to figure everything out on our own. Time, money, and outcomes for residents almost always argue for picking up the phone.
You can see the same principle in a lot of what has been in this newsletter over the past several months. Our work with the South Carolina Main Street Program is peer-to-peer learning with some of the most vibrant small downtowns in the state. Jessica Ward’s recent International Code Council certification plugs Landrum into a nationwide network of code officials with common standards and shared training. Our on-boarding of Accumen as our new IT provider brings us the best operational practices of the many municipal clients they serve. Even the interim role I hold is, in a real sense, a product of that same peer network: professionals loan out expertise between jobs so that no Council has to run a city alone during a transition.
All of that is context for this week’s biggest institutional milestone: we have officially posted the permanent City Administrator position. That posting is a promise. It is a promise to residents that this office is bigger than any one person, that City Hall is a durable institution and not a personality, and that the systems, processes, standards, and relationships being built over the past several months are here to stay. A good hire builds on the foundation. That is the point of running a city well, to hand off something stronger than you found.
As I 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 serving in this interim role part-time. I am generally in the office at City Hall on weekday mornings.
A Note from the Deputy City Administrator
While every level of government is important, local government has a more immediate and tangible impact on people. That is why continuing education for those who work at this level is vitally important. As JJ stated, the MASC offers annual meetings and other round-the-year training courses, such as quarterly Main Street meetings. Our Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals are required to have at least three hours of continued education every year. Our code enforcement staff must complete training in order to keep the International Property Maintenance certification. This year, as we continue our transitions, additional training and education is being encouraged across the board. Chief Bouwkamp and I will be attending the Small Cities Summitt next month in Columbia. The more we have in our “toolboxes” the better able we are to serve this awesome City!
As always, we encourage you to be active in the governing process. Come to public meetings, come to our Coffee with the City or just simply stop by City Hall for a chat. We would love to hear from you!
What Happened This Week:
• The permanent City Administrator position has been officially posted. Details on qualifications, responsibilities, and how to apply are available on the City’s website and are being distributed through professional networks statewide. Please help us spread the word to strong candidates who care about small-city governance.
• Attended the Municipal Association of South Carolina (MASC) Annual Meeting in Greenville. A valuable week of learning, benchmarking, and relationship-building with peer cities from across the state. Several of the ideas and contacts from the meeting will feed directly into our current workstreams.
• Tuesday, July 14: Council work session and Business Meeting. Meeting materials remain available on the City’s website for residents who would like to review what was discussed and adopted.
• Continued rollout planning for the International Property Maintenance Code enforcement program, including outreach materials that explain what to expect, how the process works, and how to come into compliance.
• Continued planning and zoning inventory and assessment, in coordination with Deputy City Administrator April Williams and the City Attorney.
• Continued on-boarding of our new IT provider, Accumen.
• Continued one-on-one outreach with business owners working through this year’s business licensing process, and continued progress on collecting overdue business licenses.
• Continued monitoring and communication around the extreme heat, including internal coordination on employee safety for staff working outdoors and continued outreach to check on vulnerable residents.
• Continued transition planning between the Interim City Administrator and Deputy City Administrator April Williams, including handoff of this letter.
• Continued staff coordination on the Saluda Grade Trail.
What We’re Working on Now:
• Active recruitment for the permanent City Administrator, including outreach through MASC and other professional networks, applicant screening protocols, and preparation for Council review of candidates in the weeks ahead.
• Continued stand-up of the International Property Maintenance Code enforcement program, including outreach materials and internal workflow.
• Continued planning and zoning inventory and assessment, with findings expected to drive a clear set of recommendations to Council in the months ahead.
• Continued implementation planning for the new municipal court system, which must be in place by December 31, 2026.
• Continued on-boarding of our new IT provider, Accumen.
• Continued internal work on next steps from the Classification and Compensation Study Report following budget adoption.
• Ongoing maintenance and improvement discussions with Spartanburg County Parks and Recreation District.
• Continued coordination with School District One staff, architects, and engineers on the proposed site plans for the new school.
• Continued engagement with the South Carolina Main Street Program.
• Standing by to assist the Northside (Simmons St.) Park property owners as they work to clear title through the probate courts.
• Continued evaluation of existing and needed ordinance updates and additions with the City Attorney.
• Continued internal improvements to workflows and processes, including the one-week-in-advance agenda publication standard.
Looking Ahead:
• Coffee with the City: Wednesday, August 5, 2026-Third Space Coffee and Bakery located at 803 E. Rutherford, Suite D
• Next Council Work Session and Business Meeting: Tuesday, August 11, 2026-Work Session 5:00 pm. Regular Meeting 6:00 pm. Full agenda and packet will be posted a week in advance.
• Continued follow-up engagement on the Saluda Grade Trail. More information at saludagradetrail.org.
• Landrum Rail & History Museum Open Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at 211 North Trade Avenue.
• Every Saturday, 8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.: Landrum Farmers Market. Come out, hydrate, and enjoy the season!
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