In his first meeting since being hired two weeks ago, McComb City Administrator Quordiniah Lockley on Monday suggested the city fill two key and vacant positions, recommending Wayne Dowdy for city attorney and Jeanette Butler as city clerk.
Lockley made the recommendations at a work session of the board of selectmen. The board is expected to vote on the recommendations at tonight’s meeting, with a majority of selectmen indicating Monday they’d vote in favor.
Neither Mayor Zach Patterson nor Selectman Melvin Joe Johnson, who is mayor pro-tem, attended the work session. Patterson said when Lockley was hired on July 27 that he would not recognize Lockley as city administrator, saying he believed the procedure to fill the job was incorrect.
The absence of Patterson and Johnson could set the stage for wrangling at City Hall over the validity of Monday’s work session, which Lockley organized, since no presiding officer was in attendance.
Dowdy, a former McComb mayor and U.S. congressman, also represents the Pike County Board of Supervisors, the city of Magnolia and the town of Summit.
Lockley said Dowdy has agreed to serve as board attorney at a salary of $49,000 a year.
McComb has been without a city attorney since Patterson fired Rachel Michel in March. Patterson has been hiring local attorneys to represent the city in different legal matters.
Butler has been serving as acting city clerk.
“Jeanette Butler has been a longtime employee for the city and worked with all the clerks in the city and the chief financial officers,” Lockley said. “She has been a dedicated employee.”
Besides recommending Butler as city clerk, Lockley recommended the city name Stephanie Forrest and Sherry Spears as deputy clerks. Forrest works with Butler in the clerk’s office, and Spears is Patterson’s and Lockley’s administrative assistant. Lockley said he recommended Spears because state law says the city clerk is responsible for recording the board minutes. Naming Spears a deputy clerk, Lockley said, would keep the board within the law.
Lockley also addressed an issue concerning Michel, recommending that the board approve back pay for her, totaling approximately $12,999. Lockley said the back pay is subject to tax and benefits deductions.
He said his recommendation is based on a recent ruling from Circuit Court Judge David Strong that said Patterson does not have the authority to fire city employees.
The ruling was part of Strong’s decision overturning the mayor’s firing of Police Chief Greg Martin. The decision was made July 16 in Pike County Circuit Court.
Because of Strong’s ruling, Lockley said, the city owes Michel the back pay from the time she was fired until Strong’s ruling.
In a related personnel matter, the board discussed whether or not to renew the city’s contract with the DelKen Group, a Ridgeland-based human resources consultant.
The contract expired June 30, and another company named Blue Ox has acquired DelKen, Lockley said, adding that Patterson renewed the contract on July 1.
The information raised questions by several board members, who said they never approved renewing the contract.
“I don’t recall approving that renewal,” Selectman Wade Lamb said. “I want to see in the board minutes where we renewed it.”
The company was hired by former Mayor Tom Walman to advise the city on human resources issues and was doing consulting and training city officials.
Lockley said he had the education and experience to perform the services that DelKen provided. He also said he’s begun advertising for a human resources director.
In other action, the board:
• Discussed lack of pay scale for city employees.
Lockley said the large pay raises approved by McComb selectmen in early 2007 “threw the (city’s) pay scale out of whack,” adding that the city no longer has a pay scale for its employees.
He said there is no pay scale for department heads based on experience.
“When one (department head) left, you just started the new one off at the salary that the other person had when they left,” he said.
The board directed him to develop a new pay scale for the city.
• Heard a presentation by McComb Railroad Museum director Winnie Len Howell on the Smithsonian exhibit, “Journey Stories” coming to the museum in October.
The selectmen also discussed plans for improvements to the museum for the exhibit, which will run from Oct. 25 to Dec. 8.
