Search for Hubbard's Replacement Set to Begin

Lexington County Council members on Tuesday will begin the laborious process of finding a replacement for outgoing .

Tuesday's regular meeting of Council, the first since Hubbard's announcement, will get the ball rolling with at least an initial discussion of the process, chairman Jim Kinard said. However, the process to find Hubbard's replacement could take several months. Council Vice-Chairman Bill Banning, Sr., told Patch last week the process to find a successor likely will not begin in earnest until after the holidays. 

In the meantime, Deputy Administrator Joe Mergo and the county's various department heads will fill the void when Hubbard begins her new job as Spartanburg County's administrator on Jan. 1, Kinard said. While the process gets underway, Kinard said it is likely that Mergo will be named interim administrator, responsible for carrying out the day-to-day duties of running the county government, overseeing 1,300 employees and a $102.3 million budget.

It remains unclear whether Mergo will seek the permanent administrator position, though if he does choose to, the Council has a history of hiring from within. Hubbard served as the county's Human Resources Director for 10 years before being appointed administrator in 2006. Mergo has been with the county in his current capacity for about five years as Hubbard's right-hand man, Kinard said.

"But we're not going to be in any major hurry [to replace Hubbard] because we do have some really good department heads in place that Ms. Hubbard had hired," Kinard said. "They know what they're doing."

As for Mergo at least being named interim administrator, he has been Hubbard's chief deputy for quite some time, "so it makes perfect sense for him to fill in until we decide what we're doing and who we'd like to have [permanently] in that position," Kinard said.

Both Banning and Kinard said Hubbard's will be big shoes to fill. Banning said Hubbard has been vital in creating a stronger, better Lexington County.

"Oh my goodness, she's helped this Council to refocus, to help us get our industrial park, and in the re-organization of almost the whole county," Banning said last week. "She's helped us oversee [that] and been a key part in everything we've done. She's left her little fingerprints all over Lexington County, that's for sure."

Said Kinard: "She's a great person. … She's the ultimate professional person. She handles everything. I can't imagine anybody handling her tasks any better or easier than she does. I wish we were keeping her. Spartanburg is very lucky being able to get her."