The mayor of Silverstreet announced she would resign during the town’s council meeting last night.

“I am tired of all the crap I have to put up with,” stated Mayor Janice Havird as she resigned. “All (the people) want to do is complain and not do anything.”

County Councilman Bill Waldrop told Havird that what she was experiencing was just a part of being involved in politics.

In her letter of resignation, the mayor of five years cited health and personal reasons for leaving office.

Havird also announced that her mother-in-law, Marguerite Havird, would be retiring as the town’s secretary. The elder Havird has held the position since 1977.

The mayor has completed one year of a four-year term and said the town would decide on how to proceed with replacing her.

In the meantime, Mayor Pro-tem Vera Nell Dale, who was unable to attend last night’s meeting due to a family member being in the hospital, will assume the duties of mayor.

Resident Gerald Dominick told Havird that he had recently moved back to town and had repeatedly asked when the council meetings were held. He added he felt one of the best ways to know what was going on in the town was to attend council meetings.

But Dominick added he could not find any postings of a meeting time or an agenda.

According the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act, all public bodies must give written public notice of regular meetings at the beginning of each calendar year. Agendas, if any, for regularly scheduled meetings must be posted on a bulletin board at the office or meeting place of the public body at least 24 hours prior to meetings. Also, public bodies must post public notices for any called, special or rescheduled meetings, according to the state law.

Another resident and business owner Marie Sommers stated Silverstreet council members told her that the public could come to speak at the meetings, but would then have to leave while the council met.

Janice Havird denied the allegations.

All meetings are to be open to the public, with special exceptions for some discussions about employment, economic development, security, criminal misconduct, or contractual matters, state law says. However, all votes must be taken in public.

There was also discussion that if the public wanted to attend and speak at the meetings that it is would be only common “courtesy” for them to call the mayor before the meeting.

All meetings of public bodies should be open to the public, according to state laws.

In a recent Freedom of Information request from the Newberry Observer, the Observer requested copies of agendas from the past six months and minutes of meetings, as well as financial statements and a summary of the town’s most recent audit. A formal request for notice of and an agenda for future meetings was included.

Janice Havird provided bank statements of the past six months to The Observer at last night’s meeting and a copy of compiled statements from 2003 and 2004. She said a copy of the 2006-2007 audit was sent to Columbia, and the town did not keep a copy.

No audit, or compilation, was done for the 2007-2008 or 2008-2009 years, but the mayor says Certified Public Accountant Art Jayroe has been hired to do a new one.

Janice Havird also stated that she would not make copies of the minutes of the meeting for The Observer, but a representative of the newspaper could look through the town’s composition book at the handwritten minutes.

Again, according to state law, the public and press are entitled to copies of the minutes and they should be available soon after the meeting. Minutes of meetings for the preceding six months are to be made available for inspection without a written request being made.

As for giving notice of meetings and an agenda of the meetings to the press, Havird responded “that won’t happen.”

In other business discussed:

• Waldrop reported that an ambulance would start running out of Silverstreet Community Center around the clock by the first of the year. Some modifications will be needed to the former fire station before the move can occur.

• The mayor also said she had started work on a $100,000 request for the upcoming penny sales tax projects. Her proposal would include park renovations, planting flowers and fencing for the park. Janice Havird passed on the packet to the other members of council.

The members of the Silverstreet council include: Dale, Shirley Berry, Sherry Waddel and Travis Gilliam.