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Flowers bloom in a small garden flanking the entrance sidewalk to Joseph Floyd Manor in Charleston on June 21, 2022. The public housing complex's CEO Scott Franklin was fired during an emergency board meeting on April 4. File/Henry Taylor/Staff

The Charleston County Housing and Redevelopment Authority abruptly fired its executive director April 3 after holding a same-day emergency meeting.

All seven members of the authority's governing board voted to remove Franklin Scott from the position, chairman Sandino Moses told The Post and Courier on April 7. The board gave no public notice of the meeting, which was held in executive session.

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Joseph Floyd Manor Director Franklin Scott (right) is introduced to Sarah Kaczmarski with Friends of Joseph Floyd Manor during the group's Giving Thursday event on Oct. 28, 2021, in Charleston. Scott was fired as head of the public housing complex after board members said ... Andrew J. Whitaker/Staff

The South Carolina Freedom of Information Act mandates public bodies give notice of at least 24 hours in a publicly accessible place before holding a special called meeting. However, emergency meetings, which Moses said this was, are exempt under the law. Minutes must be available to the public "within a reasonable time after the meeting," though discussions held during executive sessions are also exempt.

The board decided to oust Scott because he hadn't passed any of his performance reviews last year, Moses said. His firing comes 18 months after he began managing the troubled public housing agency, which operates independent of both the city and Charleston County. 

Scott was placed on probation in fall 2022, Moses said. During his final review in December, board members had given Scott a list of six action items he needed to accomplish before his next one, which was scheduled for March 2, the chairman said. He did not say what the specific actions were.

When the board realized Scott hadn't done any of the six tasks, they looked to hire a new executive director, Moses said. 

Scott declined to comment on the decision, other than to thank Charleston County for the opportunity to serve its communities.

The authority worked with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development throughout March to hire Scott's replacement, Moses said. The board chose Angela Childers, who currently serves as executive director of Beaufort Housing Authority, an independent agency with its own board, similar to Charleston County.

Childers will start her new position in Charleston on May 8. She could not be reached by press time.

Scott took the helm of Charleston County's authority at a precarious moment. 

It had been without an executive director for 17 months after the board fired James Williams in May 2020. Joseph Floyd Manor, one of two complexes the authority manages, houses some of the county's most vulnerable residents. The 13-story building was thrust under a spotlight after reports in The Post and Courier detailed deplorable living conditions.

Moses said the board understood how challenging Scott's position would be and gave him more chances than another job might have to improve.

At the end of the day, the housing authority is responsible for its tenants, Moses said: "They've been through a lot."

The majority of residents living inside Floyd Manor's 156 units are elderly or disabled, in addition to living below the poverty line. The authority took the first procedural step last summer in demolishing the high-rise, moving forward with plans to build a new complex.

But those plans have stalled, Moses said — a major factor in deciding to fire Scott. 

"He wasn't doing anything to move that effort forward," the chairman said.

Every day the board didn't do something meant another day of tenants "not getting what they need," Moses added.

Board members were pushed to quickly act this week after learning Childers had submitted her resignation, Moses said, leading to the emergency meeting.

When asked why public notice wasn't given after the fact, Moses said the board wanted to "get through the week" and "ask some questions."

Reporter Tony Kukulich contributed to this report from Beaufort.

Call Jocelyn Grzeszczak at 843-323-9175. Follow her on Twitter at @jocgrz.

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