Richland County names new Assistant County Administrator, Assessor and Economic Development Director
December 2, 2015
Richland County recently filled three key positions with the hiring of two employees to oversee public safety initiatives and economic development for the County, and tapping a longtime employee to be the first new Richland County Assessor in nearly 40 years:
- Kevin Bronson, Assistant County Administrator for Public Safety
- Jeffrey Ruble, Economic Development Director
- Liz McDonald, County Assessor
Kevin Bronson, Jeffrey Ruble, Liz McDonald
Bronson comes to his new role with 15 years of municipal work experience within South Carolina. He served as the Assistant City Administrator for the City of Orangeburg, the City Manager for the City of Camden and most recently as the General Services Administrator for the City of Rock Hill.
Bronson steps into this new role at the departure of Assistant County Administrator Sparty Hammett, who oversaw the County’s development services departments. Current Assistant County Administrator Warren Harley will now lead these departments and Bronson will head the public safety departments formerly managed by Harley.
Bronson is one of three assistant administrators, along with Harley and Roxanne Ancheta, who will continue to oversee the County’s financial and internal departments. All three assistant administrators report directly to County Administrator Tony McDonald.
As Assistant County Administrator for Public Safety, Bronson will oversee the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, animal care services, solid waste, emergency services, court administration and several other departments.
Ruble, Richland County’s new Economic Development Director, was most recently the vice president of global business development for the South Carolina Power Team, which represents the economic development interests of Santee Cooper and the state’s 20 electric cooperatives. Prior to that, Ruble was the director of projects with the Central SC Alliance, an economic development marketing, research and consulting group, and is the immediate past president of the South Carolina Economic Developers Association.
In his new position, Ruble will lead efforts to recruit new industries to Richland County and assist companies already located here with expansions.
McDonald, Richland County’s new Assessor, began her career at the Richland County Assessor’s Office in 1999 when she was first hired as an appraiser. She has had various positions within that department for the last 16 years, becoming the Deputy Assessor for Administration in 2006. In 2014, she earned the highest certification available in her field: Certified General Mass Appraiser.
The Assessor’s Office maintains the ownership record and parcel boundaries of all 170,000 parcels of real property in Richland County and plays a significant role in the amount of property tax revenue the County collects to fund schools and other functions by appraising and assessing all real property, which has a total taxable value of $22.7 billion.
McDonald has served as interim Assessor since former Richland County Assessor John Cloyd retired in January 2015 after 37 years, becoming the longest serving assessor in state history. Now officially serving in the role as County Assessor, McDonald plans to look ahead for ways to enhance the department’s current business processes to meet and exceed the requests of Richland County taxpayers and property owners.
