At the Washington Washington County Board of Supervisors’ first meeting of the new year, both the county engineer and county attorney were replaced after a motion was made by the board’s newest addition, Mala Brooks.
The meeting started with the election of officers, where a motion was made by BOS vice-president Lee Gordon to reappoint Carl McGee as president, and the motion carried.
Supervisor Tommy Benson then made a motion to reappoint Gordon as vice-president and it was approved.
Shortly after the election of officers, the meeting went into executive session for about 45 minutes to discuss the matter of reappointments.
After regular session resumed, Brooks, who was welcomed Monday as the new representative for District Four in replacement of Jesse Amos, made a motion to appoint Willie Griffin as the attorney for the board of supervisors, to replace Frank Power. The motion was approved by a vote of 3-2, with Gordon and McGee opposing.
Brooks made another motion to hire IMS Engineers, whose Mississippi office is based in Jackson, as the new county engineer and assistant county engineer, replacing longtime county engineering service, Hooker Engineering Services. The motion was also approved by a 3-2 vote, with Gordon and McGee opposing.
In response to the change from Hooker Engineering to IMS Engineers, Gordon said to the Mark Hooker Sr. and Mark Jr., “I think it’s a disservice to this county. … I think y’all have done a lot of service for 30 years for this county.”
Also expressing the same sentiment to Power, Gordon expressed his appreciation for their service to Washington County.
The following positions retained the individuals who were currently serving in that role: County administrator, planning director road manager, assistant road manager, building and grounds director, emergency management director, justice court clerk, county patrol person and veterans service officer.
