City of Orangeburg: Evering named city admin

Attorney Sidney Evering has been named Orangeburg city administrator.

Council voted 5 to 1 in favor of Evering during Tuesday’s virtual council meeting.

“All of the candidates were good, but after much discussion, and interviews, and questioning, the council decided to elect Mr. Evering because he comes with a great deal of experience that we feel would move Orangeburg forward,” Mayor Michael Butler said after the decision.

He said, “We have had extensive discussions, and we’ve had first and second interviews, and the council did this to select a person that will move us forward with the vision of the city. We tried to select the person that we thought would move us in that direction.”

Evering will replace former administrator John Yow, who retired last year after 29 years on the job.

Evering is a practicing attorney with Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, LLP. Evering served as director of diversity and inclusion at the law firm from 2010 to 2017.

He also worked as a law clerk for the Senate Judiciary Committee from 2000 to 2001, and staff attorney/lobbyist for the South Carolina Association of Counties from 2002 to 2006.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina and a J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law.

The Orangeburg native graduated from Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School in 1992. In high school, he worked as a “runner” for attorney Charles Williams. While in college, he served as a legislative aide for Orangeburg Rep. Jerry Govan and as a Senate page for the late Orangeburg Sen. Marshall Williams.

Councilman Richard Stroman was the only council member to not vote for Evering. Stroman voted in favor of interim City Administrator John Singh, who was also one of the finalists for the job.

Singh began serving as the interim administrator in August 2020. He has served as the assistant city administrator since 2009.

Butler praised Singh’s work during his time as the interim administrator.

“He has done a wonderful job in his interim period. He has got the ball rolling, and we appreciate him,” Butler said.