Horry County officials select Barry Spivey as new top administrator

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Horry County officials on Tuesday selected a new top administrator to replace Steve Gosnell, who has said he will retire in December .

After a state and nationwide search, the county selected Barry Spivey about 90 seconds into a special meeting Tuesday morning. Officials previously said they had interviewed four candidates last week for the administrator position.

An Horry County official said they had more than 40 applicants for the position.

Spivey called Gosnell a “great mentor” to him.

“He is a tremendous asset to the county,” Spivey said of Gosnell. “I don’t know of any individual, over their career, that has had as much influence and impact in Horry County as Steve does. He is a great mentor, and we will learn from him and try to carry that forward.”

Spivey said one of his priorities is fulfilling the county’s infrastructure needs.

“Ride four being the No.1 issue on our plate at the moment, and the implementation of that — assuming that our public does see the vision that we see, and the need that we see, and does approve that in the fall,” he said.

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News13’s Skylar Musick will have a full report in our afternoon newscast at 5 p.m.

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Caleb is a digital producer at News13. Caleb joined the team in January 2023 after graduating from Liberty University. He is from Northern Virginia. Follow Caleb on X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here .

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Skylar Musick is a multimedia journalist at News13. Skylar is originally from Long Island, New York. She joined the News13 team in June 2024 after graduating from Villanova University in May 2024. Follow Skylar on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook , or Instagram , and read more of her work here .

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