By SPA Staff
At 8:00 am, Tuesday, January 3, 2023, the new Pulaski County Judge Executive started his service to the county by rehiring county employees and making the first of his executive appointments.
Meeting Recap
The court voted to accept the following:
- Rehire existing county employees and jail employees with a salary schedule
- Cloyd Bumgarner as Todd's Administrative Assistant
- Dennis Turner as Road Supervisor
- Adam Scales has been reappointed as Animal Control Officer
- Josh Whitis will continue as the interim Emergency Management Director for 30 more days
- John Alexander was appointed as the new Executive Secretary, to be renamed to Executive Assistant and Public Information Officer
The positions not filled during this morning's special fiscal court meeting were:
- Finance Officer
- Deputy Judge
No mention was made of the finance officer; however, in their write-up this morning, the Commonwealth Journal mentioned that Judge Executive Todd is expecting to hire a deputy judge sometime in the coming months (or sooner).
The 911 Director position was not mentioned today either. We assume that the interim will remain in that position until Judge Executive Todd selects someone to bring before the court for the magistrates to vote on.
With all leadership positions within county government, we hope to see our new Judge Executive take steps to advertise, interview, and select the most qualified applicant for open positions. We have seen enough political appointments over the last eight years; it is time to go about hiring professionally and changing the current culture in local government.
It may even be prudent to form a committee of experts, local to the area, to aid with the selection process for each department. This county is full of professionals with experience, expertise, and willingness to help select the most appropriate and qualified leadership positions before recommendations are made to the magistrates.
According to Todd, there will be other additions/changes to personnel. It was day one, and he had a lot of work to do. As the old saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day. We expect much from Judge Executive Todd, but we must have patience and faith that he will do what is right for this county. Some problems have been brewing for eight years that can't be fixed overnight or maybe within the first year. That said, we do expect change, and a lot of it.
Out with the old, in with the new
There were several reports of technical difficulties from viewers of the livestream video this morning, but most were able to view at least part of the meeting. Having the meeting accessible online has become an asset to many community members who want to participate and stay informed about local issues. The fiscal court broadcast has become one of the best ways for constituents to get reliable and first-hand information from those they elected to address their issues. We do hope Judge Executive Todd will continue to broadcast these meetings and use it to broadcast other meetings, such as committee meetings and workshops. This would go a long way toward the transparency many have asked for in the past.
On a related note, we have heard from many that they would like a time change for the fiscal court meetings. It is a good idea for at least one of the two monthly fiscal court meetings to be held in the late afternoon or early evening so folks working during regular business hours may attend. At the very least, getting the community's input is a good idea.
We have also heard reports that there may be some issues with gaining access to some of the online sites maintained by the previous administration; however, that claim has yet to be confirmed. The outward appearance is that the outgoing administration didn't exactly hang around to make sure the transition to the new administration was smooth or as smooth as it could be. It also seems that during the last week of December, while the county was struggling with some of the coldest temperatures in the previous few decades, the county lacked anyone at the helm to ensure everyone and everything that was supposed to be done was done. We are proud to say the EOC was opened and running during the harsh temps! Thank you to those who kept on going!
One of the easier issues to tackle is a more intuitive, community-centric website. With the changes from Executive Secretary to Executive Assistant / Public Information Officer, we expect to see just that. It is a great place to start an outreach to the community and gain feedback and ideas about what a website for the county should contain. While we need a lot of the information on the current website, there is much room for improvement. Again, this is something that won't happen overnight, but it is one of the easier things to accomplish in the first 30-60 days in office.
Good luck to our new Judge Executive and all those who were re-elected.
SPA Editorial Submitted January 3, 2023
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