Passion Needed To Service Public

Passion Needed To Service Public

By David Howell

Editor

WATER VALLEY – County officials took a moment to reflect on the past years during the final supervisors meeting of the year, a sentimental meeting held Monday in Water Valley that marked the last for outgoing supervisors Tommy Vaughn, Amos Sims, George Suggs and Frank “Bubba” Tillman.

“A lot of people don’t know what this board and the preceding boards have done,” Board Attorney John Crow explained Monday, referencing work done during the span of the four men’s tenure. The length of service for the group varies – Tillman started working for the county in 1973, following his father’s footsteps as a road hand. He was elected as supervisor in 1999, serving four terms. Sims also has a lengthy career with the county, starting in 1984 as a road hand and taking office after winning his first of six elections in 1992. Vaughn took office in 2004, running for the position after retiring with 33 years of service from Columbia Gulf Transmission Company. Suggs took office in 2004, the same year as Vaughn. 

Crow’s list of accomplishments for the outgoing board started with the county’s minimal investment for the Oakland facility constructed for Mississippi Beef Processors, the predecessor for Ajinomoto Windsor.

“I know the state got a lot of bad publicity. But the county bought the land and put in $160,000, and we got all that infrastructure, millions and millions of dollars. And we have a big plant getting bigger,” Crow said about Ajinomoto Windsor, which has grown to one of the county’s largest employers since opening in 2008.

Crow next pointed to the Carother’s office Complex  and adjacent acreage located on County Road 436 that was donated to the county in 2008. Now called the Yalobusha County Office Complex, the building houses offices for the sheriff’s department, justice court office, constable office, EMA director office, economic development office, coroner and the Department of Human Service.

Crow also reminded the group of the one-time tax money used to purchase the much-utilized Multi-purpose Building in Coffeeville. The money came from LS Power, a power plant constructed in Batesville in 2000 that included local tax revenue for the supporting pipeline infrastructure located in Yalobusha.

Crow next pointed to a more recent accomplishment, a new county jail that opened earlier this year after supervisors wrangled for more than eight years on how to replace the 50-year old antiquated facility without raising taxes.

“You had a major problem, because sooner or later somebody was going to shut that old one down – that was coming,” Crow told supervisors about the old jail.

Another major accomplishment discussed Monday was the renovation of the county’s two courthouses, a project that started before Vaughn and Suggs took office in 2004.  All four outgoing supervisors were involved in the year long project that included temporarily relocating county offices during the work.

“That was a hard decision, I know since I have been here I don’t think there has been any decision as hard as that one,” District Three Supervisor Lee McMinn added about the decision to spend millions renovating the courthouses that predated his time as a supervisor.  “You still hear it today, about the price tag and all of that. But I can tell you without a doubt it was the right decision and we have two buildings we can be proud of,” McMinn added. 

McMinn was elected in 2008 and is the only incumbent supervisor who will remain in office when the new term starts.

Another improvement briefly mentioned in Monday’s meeting was the county’s 2010 purchase of the former Odom Rural Health Clinic from the hospital to house the health department at a cost of $275,000. The building was purchased after Yalobusha General Hospital constructed a larger health clinic across South Main Street from the clinic.

Longtime Tax Assessor/ Tax Collector Linda Shuffield next expressed her gratitude to the outgoing group for funding technology in her office.

“We are one of the few counties that has digital mapping, we are very proud of that,” Shuffield said, citing one example.

“You could make a list of what we are proud of, one thing is the fact that we brought the courthouse into the 21st Century. We didn’t even have online access when we got here. Now we have state-of-the-art equipment in each office. Our sheriff’s department is one of the finest in the state,” Vaughn said about technology improvements made in the last decade.

Vaughn also complimented his peers on the transparency of the board. 

“The main thing that I am more proud of than anything else, is having a board meeting where everything you discuss is in front of the public. We have been transparent on every issue that has come up. That is not the easy way to do business, but it is the right way,” Vaughn said.

“He bit off more projects that you could shake a stick at,” Tillman said about Vaughn. “And we all jumped in there

Looking Ahead

Tillman also offered some advice for the four new supervisors – Cayce Wash-ington, Kenneth Rogers, Timothy Booker and Gaylon Gray – who will take office on Tuesday and assume duties in January. All four men attended Monday’s meeting.

Tillman urged the group to make sure and have a good working relationship with all of the county departments and to remember the budget is a driving force for all of the decisions made at the board table.  

“When I leave here today, I had enjoyed it and wish all of y’all the best,” Tillman added.

“Amen,” Vaughn added.

“Amen, we won’t be telling y’all how to run things either,” Sims added.

The meeting came to a close as Vaughn also offered insight on past meetings where opinions differed and voices were elevated. 

“We do argue, and there is a reason for it. If you had one person making all the decisions, you don’t need the other four,” Vaughn explained.

“I respect every one of you to the upmost, because I know they are just as passionate about their decision as I was about mine. And that’s what you got to bring to this job, a passion to serve the people of this county.”