Persistent Weekend Work Makes Deputy Retention Difficult
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Yalobusha County Sheriff Jermaine Gooch (standing) reported that he was struggling to keep deputies. He blamed the turnover on shifts that required deputies to work almost every weekend of the year. Sheriff Gooch added that he is looking for a solution that require additional funding for the department.
COFFEEVILLE – Yalobusha County Sheriff Jerimaine Gooch wasted little time breaking the ice when it was his turn to speak to county supervisors during Monday’s meeting held at the Coffeeville courthouse.
“I got a problem,” the sheriff said. “I had two deputies leave during the last two weeks. It is because of the shifts they are working. I don’t think it is the money that is the problem now, it is the shifts,” Gooch said. “My guys are working every weekend. I have lost four deputies in the last two years because of the shifts.”
The sheriff added that he is working on a solution, and will likely attend the “first Monday” Board of Supervisor meeting on Feb 3 to present options to remedy his problem. He also said he reached out to Calhoun County Sheriff Greg Pollan for input, and learned he is not the only sheriff in a rural county struggling with scheduling utilizing a limited number of deputies.
“I may be asking for more money, or another deputy. Something like that. I just wanted y’all to be aware,” Gooch added.
“A person working every weekend, that is not good. It is not good for home life,” District 4 Supervisor Eddie Harris said.
• Approved State Aid Project SAP-81-(17)M for a road striping project in the county. The approval comes after supervisors agreed in November to allocate an estimated $1.422 million in state funding to stripe and install road reflectors along 83 miles of state aid roads in the county.
The board decision only comes once every four years as money from the Mississippi Department of Transportation through the Mississippi Office of State Aid Construction to counties in a cycle that coincides with supervisors’ terms. Monday’s decision means that the striping project will exhaust state aid funding until the next four-year term that starts in 2028.
• Heard a request from Frankie McCain regarding property plats for lots located in the Deerwood Park subdivision near Oakland.
McCain said the neighborhood has been in existence for decades, but the property plats, or a map showing how the tract of land is divided into lots, have not recorded at the county courthouse. McCain requested assistance from supervisors in getting the plats recorded. He also said that the property owners discovered not having the lots platted can create a problem with the neighborhood homeowner’s association following a recent lawsuit.
County engineer Karl Grubb explained that supervisors cannot approve the property plats.
“The property owners will have to hire a surveyor to survey the entire subdivision. So the surveyor can plat it and record it properly,” Grubb added.
“Guys, this is a perfect example of why we tried to put together some standards in the county,” Board President Cayce Washington noted. “Because these fly-by-night developers come in and buy 100-acre blocks of land want to start selling parcels but there is no mapping. Now this is a byproduct of that, and it is causing y’all grief. This is why we did the Stewardship Yalobusha plan.”
• Approved a request from the City of Water Valley to use the county-owned voting machines for the upcoming city elections. Circuit Clerk Daryl Burney recommended approving the request, as the county uses city-owned buildings for precincts during county elections.
