SCAC Elects Other Officers and Reelects Five Board Members
 
      The South Carolina Association of Counties (SCAC) elected officers for 2015–16 at its 48th Annual Conference, held Aug. 2–5. The SCAC also reelected five board members.
      Elected PRESIDENT was Marion County Council Member John Q. Atkinson, Jr. He replaces Horry County Council Member James R. Frazier, who served as SCAC President for 2014–15.
      “It is an honor for me to be elected as President of the Association of Counties for the coming year,” said John Q. Atkinson, Jr., Marion County Council Member. “Under the outstanding leadership of James Frazier, we have completed another challenging year. I look forward to serving this Association, its members and directors.
      “This year, while we marked the 40th anniversary of Home Rule, we were challenged on several fronts from funding of local governments to roads and infrastructure,” Atkinson added. “Now more than ever, we must work together as the leaders of our communities to achieve our common goal of true local Home Rule. I will be calling on SCAC’s members in the coming months as we develop our legislative agenda for the 2016 legislative session.”
      Atkinson, Senior Vice President of Pee Dee Federal Savings Bank since 1991, has served as Marion County Council Chairman and Vice Chairman since 1989.
      He previously worked for Farm Chemical and Fertilizer Sales from 1976 to 1980, Production Credit Association (Farm Credit) from 1980 to 1985, and South Carolina National Bank from 1985 to 1991.
      Atkinson has also served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Pee Dee Regional Council of Governments (COG) since 1994 and as its secretary and treasurer since 2012; as a member of the Pee Dee Regional Development Board since 1994; and as a member of the Northeastern Strategic Alliance since 2008. He also served as a member of the Pee Dee Regional Revolving Loan Fund Review Committee from 2007 to 2013. Atkinson first served as a member of SCAC’s Board of Directors from 1991 to 1995, and was reelected to serve in 2012.
      He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from The Citadel in 1976. He also graduated from East Carolina Commercial Lending School in 1987, the S.C. Bankers Association Banking School in 1992, and the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University in 1997.
      Atkinson has been a member of the Marion Rotary Club since 1993, and served as president from 1997 to 1998. In 2012, he was recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow by The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.
        Atkinson is a member of Marion First United Methodist Church and Uncle Charlie’s Hut Sunday School Class.
 
SCAC Elects Other Officers
 
      The SCAC elected other officers as follows:  FIRST VICE PRESIDENT — Julie J. Armstrong, Charleston County Clerk of Court; SECOND VICE PRESIDENT — Ronald Young, Aiken County Council
Chairman; THIRD VICE PRESIDENT — Henry H. Livingston III, Newberry County Council Chairman; SECRETARY — F. Pickens Williams, Jr., Barnwell County Administrator; and TREASURER — Belinda D. Copeland, Darlington County Treasurer.
 
SCAC Reelects Five Board Members
     
      The SCAC reelected the following SCAC Board Members to four-year terms (2015-19):  Donald E. Hancock, Saluda County Council Chairman; Steve Willis, Lancaster County Administrator; Diane B. Anderson, Laurens County Council Member; Henry E. (Sel) Hemingway, Jr., Georgetown County Administrator; and Lois H. Roddey, Chester County Probate Judge. 
 
      The SCAC, chartered on June 22, 1967, is a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization whose membership includes all 46 counties in South Carolina. Governed by a 29-member board of directors elected each year by county officials at the Association’s annual conference, the SCAC is the only organization representing county governments in the state.
      The Association provides a number of services, programs, and activities to county governments and their officials, including: research and technical assistance; education and training; legal assistance; policy development, advocacy, and legislative information; publications, including a magazine and newsletter; meetings and conferences; public information, including an annual directory and website; and financial services, including the S.C. Counties Workers’ Compensation Trust and S.C. Counties Property & Liability Trust.