Will Tommy Sinclair be Union County’s last supervisor?

He will if Union County Councilman Joey English has his way.

Gov. Mark Sanford announced this afternoon that he had appointed Sinclair, a former educator and retired military officer, supervisor. Sinclair will serve out the unexpired term of Donnie Betenbaugh who was suspended from office by Sanford earlier this month after being indicted on federal corruption and drug charges.

The announcement of Sinclair’s appointment came less than an hour after Union County Council voted unanimously to consult with the county attorney on the process of setting up a public referendum to change the county’s form of government from supervisor-council to council-administrator. The change was proposed by English who said he felt now was a good time to change the system and put county admiministration on a more professional footing.

“There are only four or five counties in the state that still have supervisors,” English said. “Right now, anyone, regardless of their qualifications, can be elected supervisor. If we had the council-adminstrator system, we could get someone professional credentials, qualifications and experience to handle the day-to-day administration of county government.

“I would also like to eventually get a chief financial officer like the City of Union has,” he said. “He would serve as county purchasing agent which is currently handled by the supervisor.”

A previous referendum on changing the county’s system of government to council-administrator failed in 2002, but English said that, given recent circumstances, he feels the public would vote for the change. He said that he’d favored this chance for a long time and that it had nothing to do with the person holding the office. English said he is in favor of a council-administrator system regardless of the person elected supervisor.

“Now is the time we could do it without stepping on the supervisor’s toes,” English said. “I think Sinclair can do us a good job but this an opportunity like Union County has never had before to change its form of government.”