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Recovery, Growth Mark Ed Driggers' Five Years at City Helm

Edward Driggers is city administrator of Greer, South Carolina.

Administrator Ed Driggers has completed his fifth year at the helm of Greer [South Carolina] City Hall. "It really has been a quick five years," Driggers said. "An awful lot has happened, and it has gone quickly." Driggers came to Greer from Chester, where he served as city administrator. He was one of 69 applicants to fill the Greer post.

Driggers took the job here despite the fact that the city budget faced a $1.2 million shortfall. "It was dumped in his lap," Mayor Rick Danner said of the deficit. "He was willing to come in and tackle some issues that were not his and take some stands that were not easy, being the new administrator. He faced those challenges head-on."

Within two years, Driggers and department heads steered city finances back into the black. Since then, the city council has enjoyed balanced budgets and a restored fund balance. Driggers is quick to say he did not pull the city out of the ditch on his own. "That took an enormous sacrifice from our employees and from the community and from our elected officials, but everyone rose to the occasion," he stressed.

"I think his financial leadership has been his greatest accomplishment. We've come 180 degrees in the past five years, and that is always an ongoing process," Danner said. "Certainly, his ability to understand growth issues is right there, close-in second. With the growth of this area like it is, we have some real issues, and he has been able to bring balance to a lot of those things."

Greer's growth is evident, with Greenville and Spartanburg hospital systems' developing dueling medical campuses, BMW's expansions, Mitsubishi's growth, the new Wade Hampton Boulevard shopping opportunities, and record housing starts. Driggers predicts that growth of the city limits will now slow, with few if any major steps toward expanding the boundaries. Future annexations will focus on filling in the many gaps left by past growth.

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS

Driggers ranks his top accomplishment as implementing the Team Greer concept. This concept made great strides toward strengthening relationships between city departments, boosting employee morale, and improving city services. "Each and every department plays a very important part in the city and providing services," Driggers said. "Fire is no more important than police, and police is no more important than sanitation. We are all on this team. We all contribute in different ways, and each and every accomplishment has worth."

While employees bore some burden of the city's financial strain five years ago, they have since been rewarded with annual pay increases. Programs have been initiated, including the family picnic, employee appreciation breakfast, and a safety bonus. "On average, our employees have fared as well as, if not better than, most municipalities and state employees over the past five years," Driggers stressed.

A major stride for Driggers and the city has been restoring a worn relationship with the Commission of Public Works. "The relationship is as strong as it has ever been. We support each other and recognize that, when we work together, we all succeed," Driggers said. Other relationships that Driggers has worked to improve include those with Greenville and Spartanburg counties, GPS Airport, and state officials.

Five years ago, when Driggers came to Greer, the city had an annual budget of $9.1 million and 139 city employees. Today, the city's budget is $13.7 million, with some 180 employees.

Since coming to Greer, Driggers has hired five of the seven city department heads. He has hired Recreation Director Brent Taylor, Building and Codes Administrator Phil Rhoads, Public Services Director and City Engineer Wes Wagner, Police Chief Dan Reynolds, and City Finance Director David Seifert.

Although much of Driggers' tenure in Greer has been a positive experience, he's quick to admit there has been disappointment. "I really thought we would be in construction by now," Driggers said of the goal to build a new city hall and municipal complex. "That has been really frustrating, but the reasons we have not started are mostly economic."

Other seemingly insurmountable challenges include such capital projects as developing an ongoing road maintenance program, building a new fire substation, and tackling Greer's many stormwater control needs. "There are some high-dollar projects that need to be done, but we simply have not had the resources available," he related.

Driggers' touch in Greer will be evident here for years to come. Some of his more visible efforts are downtown's new Christmas dŽcor, building-trim lights, and median beautification on Wade Hampton Boulevard. The city also has a new Web site and a community-access cable channel where residents can learn about upcoming events or Greer's most wanted criminals.

CONSTRUCTION AHEAD

As for the future, Driggers has his sights set on moving the seemingly impossible projects to the city's front burner. "I would really like to see us start on the city complex," he said. "There is a tremendous public need to centralize local government for better efficiency and improved convenience. We have grown out of space in every facility.

"We need a comprehensive road maintenance program," he continued. "We have only been able to put limited funding toward our streets. We need to figure out how to fund this at a level so we can see improvement each year."

Driggers says he and his family are content in Greer, and the challenges of city hall will keep him here. "Opportunities have been presented to look at other things, but they have not been as attractive as what it is here," he said. "This is a growing, vibrant community. There is every challenge imaginable for somebody in this profession. One could work in a city with 100,000 population and not have any more challenges than I face here."

He continued, "There is no reason that we would want to leave. The only reason at this point that I would leave is if an opportunity presents itself for my family and me that we need to take a look at. I don't have control over when those things come along. I have always felt that the time to leave is when you have accomplished all you can do, and there are so many challenges here that I don't see that in the near future."

Mayor Danner concluded, "I interact with a lot of people statewide in terms of things going on here and in other towns, and I can say without reservation that we have one of the best, if not the best, city administrator in the state right now. He's a first-class guy, and I am proud to have been serving while he has been here, and hopefully he will be here a lot longer."

—Eddie Burch
News Editor
The Greer Citizen
Greer, South Carolina

Reprinted with permission from the August 3, 2005, edition of the The Greer Citizen, Greer, South Carolina.

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