Legal battles between elected officials in the town of Swansea are continuing with no resolution in sight.

A countersuit filed last month by the town’s mayor is the latest development amid ongoing tensions.

It all started almost a year ago when council members Michael Luongo and Doris Simmons said they could not get an explanation of why $3 million was unaccounted for in the town’s budget. The problem was revealed in an audit conducted in 2021.

Luongo and Simmons said town officials would not provide the answers they were seeking and decided, along with town resident Barrett Black, to file a lawsuit in August 2022 demanding answers from Mayor Viola McDaniel, Town Clerk Margaret Harvey and Auditor John Brown.

Brown later filed a counter lawsuit against the council members, alleging he was libeled and defamed. 

The now-former town auditor has maintained that he did offer an explanation for the unaccounted-for assets.

“When I attempted to test fixed assets by comparing the fiscal year 2020 ending balance to the fiscal year 2021 beginning balance, there were no amounts included in the accounting system for fiscal year 2021,” he told council in August, at the same meeting where he announced his resignation from doing the town’s audits. “Hence my statement that the fixed assets are understated by at least $3.3 million. That was the total fixed assets for the year 2020.”

Harvey also filed a countersuit contending she was unfairly cited.

On March 21, 2023, Mayor Viola McDaniel filed her own countersuit, saying she was libeled by the suits.

McDaniel didn’t respond to the Chronicle’s request for comment.

In an interview with the Chronicle, Luongo said he was not surprised by the countersuits, which he said were a continuation of the conflicts over accountability that has been going on for months.

So far, there has been no judicial resolution  tinhe legal battle. Luongo said it’s still uncertain when the suits will go to court.

Jake Moore, the attorney representing Luongo and Simmons, had sought a deposition hearing in September.

For a small town the size of Swansea, which has about 700 residents, $3 million in missing financial information is unacceptable, Moore said, but nobody is explaining why town officials are not addressing the question.

“Where is the money?” Moore asked. 

The September hearing was put on hold and has not yet been rescheduled.

Another issue before council is the hiring for its newly instated town administrator position.

The council has been conducting interviews with former Richland County Administrator Tony McDonald about the post, but a final decision has not been made.

The Chronicle was recently notified about another issue in Swansea about community concerns that Luongo was preparing to build a chicken farm on property he owns in the area.

When asked about it, Luongo said the plan was still in the “talking stage” and that the property in question was not within the Swansea town limits.