Former Tryon manager gets second chance in Landrum

Published 9:43 am Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Caitlin Martin gets another chance to show what she’s capable of as she takes on her new position as city adminsitrator for Landrum.

Landrum city council members voted to hire Martin last week after interviewing five out of 30 candidates. While some in Tryon didn’t think she was a good fit for their town of just under 2,000 people – Tryon officials fired Martin back in February after she was on the job for just five months – Landrum Mayor Robert Briggs said his town feels confident in its hire.

In an editorial not long ago we said we felt both the cities of Tryon and Landrum needed people in these positions who had several years of experience dealing with difficult situations and keeping towns on positive tracks.

Sign up for our daily email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

We still think that is true, but if the City of Landrum considers Martin the best candidate for the job, we can only assume they have done their homework.

Tryon officials after all never provided a real reason for her termination other than they wanted to move in a different direction with city leadership.

Landrum obviously thinks she has the background necessary to handle the daily needs of their city. She has the experience in Tryon behind her now and likely learned a bit about running a small town.

Martin’s also gotten some experience under her belt as an intern to the deputy town manager at the Town of Mount Pleasant, S.C. and as an intern at Sen. Jim DeMint’s office.

One real positive in her corner – she’s willing and eager to learn what she needs to know to accomplish the job. For the next two weeks she’ll serve alongside Landrum’s current city administrator, Steve Wolochowicz, who plans to help smooth the transition for her.

What Martin, or any potential city administrator in our area needs is the full support of those who hire them and the resources to get the job done. When we say resources we’re not necessarily talking about monetary resouces, but resources acquired through other city leaders standing up and taking accountability for the decisions made alongside their city administrator. Hopefully Landrum provides that to Martin so she can be successful in the position.

After all the city’s success depends on her being successful in the position.

– Editorial staff, Tryon Daily Bulletin