Retiring Supervisor – A County Man For 43 Years

Frank “Bubba” Tillman started his career with Yalobusha County in 1973, following in his father’s footsteps as a road hand in District 4.

 
TILLATOBA – After logging more than four decades working for the county, Frank “Bubba” Tillman has witnessed a lot of history – both in the county and across the state. He was working as a road hand in Beat 4 when the FBI and Mississippi Auditor Ray Mabus launched a massive investigation in the mid-1980s to uncover corruption that ultimately led to charges for 57 supervisors.
    “Mabus came after all the supervisors back then, but he didn’t have anything on the ones here,” Tillman recalls about the probe that was code-named Operation Pretense.
    Tillman remembers the hotly contested election that followed the investigation, when state officials mandated an election in 1988 forcing voters to decide if the county would switch to the centralized Unit System or continue in the Beat System. While more than half the counties in Mississippi changed to the Unit System in that 1988 election, Tillman recalled it was the voters in Beat 5 and another beat that favored retaining the Beat System in Yalobusha in the tight election separated by less than 300 votes.
    That sentiment holds true today, according to Tillman.
     “Every time that comes up, folks say they don’t want the unit system,” Tillman said.
 
Early Years
    Tillman started as a road hand in 1973, following in the footsteps of his father who had worked for the county for 16 years when he died at 48 with a massive heart attack. Tillman was 22 and working at a factory in Grenada when he called the late Richard Ross, then Beat 4 Supervisor, about the position his father had held.
    “He said, ‘Bubba, when you want to start?’” Tillman recalls about the tragic turn of events. That phone call launched a career that included positions as a road hand in Beat 4 and Beat 5, and four terms as supervisor in Beat 5. That career will end in December after Tillman announced he will not seek a fifth term.
              
You’re The Boss
    Tillman had plenty of on-the-job training before he was elected supervisor in 1999. After starting with Richard Ross he worked for his wife, Margaret Jean Ross, who was appointed to fill the remainder of the term following her husband’s death. Tillman next worked for Danny Barton  three terms and was ready to compete for the job in the 1991 election after Barton stepped down. He came up short against Freddie Winters, but already had a backup plan in place to keep his county check coming in each month when he went to work for Beat 5 Supervisor Henry Dean Gray.
    Tillman also recalls words of advice when he first went to work for Gray.
    “I asked him who was the foreman in the beat?” Tillman recalled.
    “He said ‘Hell Bubba, they didn’t elect a foreman. They elected a supervisor,’” Tillman recalled about that conversation.
    Simply put, a supervisor better be up to the task for ramrodding the district because the voters would hold the elected official accountable, not the road crew.
     Tillman was ready to put that advice to work and ran for the job in 1999 when Gray retired. His second campaign was successful and Tillman took office in 2000. He is proud of the accomplishments during his time as supervisor.
 
Quality of Life
    Among the first tasks after taking office included the implementation of the 911 road addressing system and dispatch center and building the county’s Multi-purpose Building. The accomplishments also include the renovation of the county’s two courthouses a decade ago and the purchase of the former hospital-owned building that now houses the Department of Health in Water Valley in 2010.
    His final term will close with the completion of a new county jail that will replace the current facility that predates Tillman’s employment with the county by almost a decade.
    Tillman also credits the management of the county-owned hospital as improving the quality of life in the county, specifically with new clinics in Water Valley, Coffeeville and Oakland.
He is also quick to note that the credit for accomplishments during the last 15 years is shared with all of the elected officials and the hard-working county employees.
    “It makes you feel good when people say, ‘Bubba, I tell you what, the girls that work in the courthouses, they don’t mind helping you,’” Tillman said.
    As for the roads, Tillman’s district has the most road miles with almost 215 that span the western portion of the county.
    “I would have liked to have got more done on my roads, but it’s tough with the high price of tar, asphalt and rock, “ Tillman explained.  “But I got my roads where you can travel them, that’s for sure.”
 
Words Of Wisdom
    With his lengthy tenure with the county, Tillman can offer advice for future supervisors on the big issues and the day-to-day routine.
    “A grease gun is a lot cheaper than a $200 bearing,” Tillman quips. “You have got to take care of your equipment.” And while this advice may seem mundane, it also holds true for the county’s buildings.
    “We have got to keep a maintenance program on our buildings,” Tillman continued.  “We went through the issues of renovating our courthouses. We can’t let our buildings get in bad shape.”
    Aside from equipment and buildings, the most challenging part of the job comes from the politics and people. Part of the challenge stems from the balancing act between the county’s two judicial districts.
    “If you get elected, you are elected from the beat. But your goal is not only to tend to the beat but also for the whole county,” Tillman explains. This means sometimes the job forces you to vote in a manner that is not always the most popular with your constituents.
    Tillman cited a recent example, the location of the new county jail, when he was on the losing side of a split vote for the location. He and another supervisor voted for a location in Coffeeville that would be donated by the town, but the prevailing vote was to build the facility in Water Valley.
    After losing the vote, Tillman explains he has fully supported the jail construction. That support will also include the next challenge that will come during budgeting time this summer, funding the expanded facility.
    “When you go from 24 inmates to over 60, the operating expenses are going to increase,” Tillman said. This will mark one of the last challenges in the last months of his career.
    “I have enjoyed it, the good and the bad,” he adds.
As for life after retirement, Tillman plans to spend plenty of time with a hunting rifle or fishing pole in his hands.  He also plans to keep his commercial driver’s license up-to-date, just in case Beat 5 needs a little part-time help.