UPDATE: Mauldin Terminates Fincher as Public Works Director

This post has been updated with comments from city officials.

William Greg Fincher, Mauldin's Public Works Director, has been fired.

Fincher, charged last month for kidnapping, was dismissed by the city effective Aug. 30, city administrator Trey Eubanks confirmed Tuesday evening.

The city has already placed advertisements to fill Fincher's job.



An incident report said Fincher, who was belligerent and appeared intoxicated at the time of his arrest, had offered the woman a beer and asked her for sex in exchange for a job.

Prior to his dismissal, the city had placed Fincher on paid administrative leave. He remains free on $30,000 bond.

Eubanks remained mum on the alleged incident Tuesday and declined to answer specific questions about Fincher, reiterating his stance that Fincher's case remained an internal "personnel matter."

"It's a personnel matter… what I can tell you was that he was dismissed on Aug. 30 and we have an interim Public Works director in place," Eubanks told Patch. "The city's intent is not to skip a beat as far as the level of services our citizens receive…and we're moving right ahead."

While a search is underway for Fincher's replacement, the department's Charles Kirksey will act as interim director, Eubanks said.

When asked whether the Fincher incident would impact the city's hiring processes, Eubanks said simply: "I can tell you that we will go through an evaluation of applicants and we will work to select the one that best fits the needs of our Public Works department and the services that department provides to the citizens of the city of Mauldin."

Eubanks deflected a question about any potential city liability in the incident, which took place after hours at the Public Works headquarters. "There are charges that have been leveled against Mr. Fincher and that is up to him to address the charges that have been filed against him," Eubanks said.

Eubanks also declined to discuss whether Fincher had been living at the department's headquarters at 126 McDougall Court, which the incident report also listed as Fincher's address.

"This is a personnel matter and I'm going to say what I've said about that," Eubanks stated flatly. 

"We fully intend to provide the services of the department to the citizens at the high level they are currently receiving them," Eubanks added. "I hope you understand that these are personnel matters and I am certainly not going to infringe on Mr. Fincher's rights by commenting on things that I am not going to be able to comment on. He has rights…these things have to be handled appropriately and we are certainly going to make sure we handle personnel matters appropriately."

Mayor Dennis Raines was unable to provide any details either, but did express regret for the downfall of a man he considers his friend.

"Even public employees make bad decisions. They are not immune from that," Raines told Patch. "He made some bad decisions and those decisions basically resulted in us having to release him. It's very sad. He's a good friend of mine. It's unfortunate…. I hate it for him. I wish him the best, I really do."

Though Raines said he hasn't talked to Fincher, he said, "If he called me today and needed anything from me, I'd do everything I could to help him. He just made some bad choices."