Canterbury will retire at end of year

Charleston County Administrator Mack Canterbury is retiring at the end of the year.

It's a good time for him to move on, Canterbury said, because the county is about to launch several long-term efforts for which a new administrator should "get in on the ground floor."

Those efforts include planning for how the county will handle solid waste in the future and developing a system that consolidates all the emergency dispatch services in Charleston County.

He also said he's willing to stay a little longer if County Council needs more time to bring in a new administrator. He had agreed this year to maintain his post through December 2009.

Canterbury, the former deputy county administrator, came out of retirement in 2006 to serve as interim county administrator.

County Council Chairman Tim Scott said the search for a new administrator is well under way.

Before council pulled Canterbury out of retirement, it had signed a contract with a search firm to help find a new administrator, Scott said.

Council resurrected the $20,000 contract with the Mercer Group, without voting on it again, he said.

Council began the search for a new administrator to replace Canterbury about four or five months ago, Scott said. It's now doing background searches on five candidates, he said, and will release the names of at least three finalists in early November, soon after the election.

Scott said he's leaving County Council around Nov. 12 to take the District 117 state House seat. He won't be able to vote on the next county administrator, he said, "but in my mind, there's a clear front-runner."

Scott declined to name that candidate.

He said council is looking for "a visionary" for the county's top post, "someone who understands the organization and can delegate," he said.

Canterbury said he and 2,300 full-time staffers accomplished a great deal in the past few years. He's most proud of the county's Greenbelt program, which acquired about 8,000 acres of land for green and open space.

"It's going to have a tremendous impact in quality of life." He's also proud of launching a consolidated emergency dispatch program, he said.

So far eight of the county's cities and towns have signed agreements to have a centralized dispatch system for police, fire and EMS emergencies. "It's a quantitative leap forward," he said.

Canterbury said he's looking forward to returning to the retirement he set aside nearly three years ago. He's going to pursue his passion for long-distance motorcycle rides, he said.

On his longest ride so far, he spent 45 days traveling through the northwestern United States. He's not sure yet where or how long his next ride will be, he said. But he'll have plenty of time.

Reach Diane Knich at 937-5491 or dknich@postandcourier.com.