Fired Beaufort County parks and rec director hired in Georgia

Loper broke procurement rules, subject of 2 ethics investigations during time in Lowcountry

By Mike McCombs

The Island News

Shannon Loper, who was fired as Beaufort County’s Parks and Recreation Director in October 2023, has been hired as the interim Parks and Recreation Director in Rincon, Ga., according to a story published on the Effingham Herald’s website Jan. 25.

According to the story, Loper’s first day at her new job was Tuesday, Jan. 30. According to the city’s news release, Loper’s hiring follows the resignation of the previous director in October.

Loper was fired Monday, Oct. 9, 2023 by Beaufort County. Sources within the Beaufort County government told The Island News that Loper was terminated because of her treatment of an employee.

She had been employed by Beaufort County Parks and Recreation (formerly known as Parks and Leisure Services or PALS) since 1998. She was promoted to the Director position in 2016.

“We are confident Ms. Loper is the right person to lead our Recreation Department into the future beginning with this interim period. Her proven track record and dedication to organizational values make her an excellent choice for this role,” Rincon City Manager Jonathan Lynn said in a news release.

Lynn goes on to say, “We want to ensure the public that the City has done our due diligence in this hiring process and ensure the public that we have full faith in Ms. Loper’s ability to lead our Parks and Recreation Department. Due to awaiting resolution of some outstanding issues in South Carolina, we will begin Ms. Loper’s employment by having her serve as our Interim Director while awaiting that resolution. We fully expect those matters to be resolved in a satisfactory manner and at which time, Ms. Loper would go through the appointment process for the role on a permanent basis. We are excited to move our Parks and Recreation Department forward and grow the services we provide to our community.”

Loper’s termination in October came just two weeks after Beaufort County Council approved the construction, after its completion, of an inclusive playground in Port Royal that Loper authorized, despite not following the proper procurement procedure for the nearly $800,000 purchase.

At the time, Loper’s disregard for procurement procedures were brought to light by The Island News, she was already the subject of a South Carolina Ethics Commission investigation, officially confirmed Aug. 2, 2023, into allegations she used Beaufort County Public Works property – a Bobcat type vehicle and possibly an excavator – to make improvements upon her personal property in Bluffton in 2021.

After her firing, later in October 2023, a second S.C. Ethics Commission investigation into Loper was confirmed. The newest complaint regarding Loper alleged that she hired her sons to referee youth sports and to run a cheerleading camp at some point during her tenure as the Parks and Recreation Director.

In August 2022, Loper and the Parks and Recreation Department came under fire for their decision to make a summer camp using public facilities and funding available only to the children of county employees instead of opening it up to the public.

In a memo obtained by The Island News and written by Loper that was sent out to county employees, she said that the program was not open to the public and that the Parks and Recreation Department was doing their “best to disguise it.”

Lynn reiterated to the Herald that the city had done its due diligence.

“She absolutely disclosed (that) information during every round of her interviews, as well as provided a supporting documentation as to the factual nature of what really happened,” Lynn told the newspaper. “And it gave us a comfort level that checking references and a general consensus that the credibility is not there for what was done.”

Assistant Editor Delayna Earley’s reporting contributed to this report.

Editor’s note: In the interest of full disclosure, Delayna Earley’s husband interviewed for the Beaufort County Parks And Recreation Director position in 2016.

Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.