Many city and town officials across the state have met the Municipal Association’s field services managers, who travel to all 271 of the state’s municipalities to connect them with the Association’s resources. The three-member team includes Charlie Barrineau, Ashley Kellahan, and now, Naomi Reed, who joined in July.
Most recently, Reed served as the assistant city administrator for the City of Fountain Inn, where she worked in total for 17 years in a variety of positions.
“I've always appreciated the Municipal Association's dedication to supporting and advocating for municipalities,” Reed said. “It is a tremendous privilege to serve as a field services manager, offering direct assistance to cities and towns, equipping them with the necessary resources and tools to continue their invaluable work across the Upstate."
The field services managers are available as a resource for municipal officials who identify significant questions or challenges. They also provide hands-on technical assistance. The field services managers regularly attend city and town council meetings, conduct informational sessions and goal-setting workshops, and offer training for newly elected officials. In a recent podcast, all three field services managers explained the services they offer, the territories they cover, and some of the most common questions they receive from local officials.
The three field services managers strive to make ongoing contact with every city and town in South Carolina, no matter how large or small. In fact, the Municipal Association’s 2023 Annual Report counted a total of 4,555 individual contacts made by the team in the previous year, with some of the most common types of technical assistance questions around the state being American Rescue Plan Act funds, business licensing, finance and human resources.
Each of the field services managers has their own territory for ongoing communication with specific cities and towns, and they divide the state roughly into thirds. Charlie Barrineau handles the northern coastal region, Ashley Kellahan works with the southern coastal region, and Naomi Reed assists with the Upstate.
Here is the territory map and contact information for each of the three:
