PICKENS, SC (WSPA) — Hundreds of residents gathered at the Pickens City Council this week to show support for the city’s recently fired director of parks and recreation.

A special meeting was held on Monday to hear public opinion on the issue. At the end of the session, the council voted on whether or not to reinstate former parks and recreation director Brandon Enoch, overriding an earlier decision by the city’s administrator.

Several children and parents in the community who knew Enoch spoke on his behalf before the vote, pleading with the council to reverse the decision to terminate him. The council, however, was not persuaded.

They choose to uphold his termination with a vote of 4-2.

7NEWS reached out to the city for a comment, but they could not respond to a personnel issue, according to City Administrator Charlene Carter.

The city’s inability to comment on the issue has led many people in the community to speculate about the factors involved in Enoch’s termination, including racism.

Before the meeting ended, Enoch himself spoke about the factors that lead to his dismissal.

According to Enoch, he was primarily fired after he decided to provide work in the department to a homeless man called “Biggie” who had a criminal record.

“I took an interest in a homeless man; took care of a homeless man, personally. I took my shoes off my feet and gave [them] to him personally,” he said.

“The truth of the matter is, Biggie has a record. Biggie is a felon. Biggie has a felony grand larceny charge that I was very much aware of because I am a responsible professional and I definitely had a background check conducted and I knew of these things.”

“That’s why we’re here is because Biggie was helping out. He had a [felony] charge and I still took it upon myself to have him around,” he said.

For Enoch, the outpouring of support during the city council meeting made him feel like he made a positive difference in the community, despite only working as the director of the parks and recreation department for a little over a year.

“I’m truly humbled to have this amount of support,” he said during the meeting to the community members who filled the council chambers to show support.

“While it might be nice to be important to others, it’s a lot more important to be nice to others,” he said.

The entire meeting can be seen here.