City discusses general manager post

The Holly Springs Mayor and Board of Aldermen brought two prospective candidates for the position of general manager of the utility department up for discussion at the Oct. 17 board meeting.

Earnest Campbell, a lineman at the electric department, and Ricky Jones took questions from the mayor and board.

Campbell has over 19 years with the utility and is currently a lineman in a supervisory role.

Jones is a businessman who has no direct utility experience but is a member of the board of directors for Northcentral Electric Cooperative.

Wayne Jones, who has also applied for the position, was presented as a candidate for public works director. He is an engineer now working in the bridge division with the Mississippi Department of Transportation.

Mayor Sharon Gipson placed Campbell on the agenda as her recommendation for general manager. Alderman-At-Large Dexter Shipp placed Ricky Jones name on the agenda for consideration.

Campbell was first up. Gipson said Campbell has worked to bring the substations up to speed and safer. Campbell has been in a supervisory role since interim manager Donald Warren retired, Gipson said.

“He has a vision of how to move Holly Springs forward,” Gipson said.

Campbell was asked to enumerate a few things he thinks need close scrutiny.

“I know the complaints and things to look out for,” Campbell said.

He said right-of-way (ROW) maintenance is a top priority and the utility needs linemen. Gipson asked how he will relate to employees. “You have to be a people person,” he said. “We already come together.”

Gipson said Campbell served as point person in working with the Tennessee Valley Authority’s assessment.

He also handles projects a general manager would handle and was point person with TVPPA in working on its recent assessment of the electric department.

Campbell said there are lots of small things TVA looks at that are important to manage.

“Substations, traffic and linemen training are other high priority items,” he said.

Gipson asked Campbell how familiar he is with computers and with AMI meters and the inventory system.

He said he is limited to emails and internet shopping as far as computer experience.

The AMI meter transmissions will be improved as vegetation is removed from the rights-of-way, he said. He is familiar with the inventory but not the inventory system, he said.

He said the utility works with customers on a first-come, first-serve basis. He said being honest with customers works better than telling falsehoods. And staying in touch with ROW crews is important.

“I’m familiar with what goes on and know the job,” he said.

He interacts with both customers and employees, he said.

Ward 1 alderman Bernita Fountain told Campbell he is an asset to the utility now and “helped bail us out of the ice storms and rains.”

“I respect your work,” she said. “I don’t know how we would get along without your work. Who is going to fill the gap (his position if he moves up)?”

“No gap, if we go ahead and hire linemen now,” Campbell said.

“If the grid collapses, would you know how to get it back up?” Fountain asked. “How would you be able to handle something like that, like in storms and multiple storms?”

Campbell said the utility reroutes the electricity until the linemen do what they have to do to correct problems. He said the time it takes to restore outages would be minimized if there is more protection on the system. Troubleshooting comes in without sufficient protection, he said.

Shipp expressed gratitude to Campbell for his work.

“We cannot punish people for excellence,” Gipson said, and asked for a motion to hire Campbell.

Gipson meant that people who are doing an excellent job should not be overlooked for promotions just because they are good at the job they are already doing.

Fountain interrupted.

“I do see there are two other people here as well,” she said. “There is still Mr. Jones and the other Mr. Jones.”

Next up was Ricky Jones, the father-in-law of Ward 2 alderman Andre Jones.

Shipp asked Ricky Jones for a quick rundown on what he “would bring to the table to move the utility forward.

Jones said he serves on the board of directors at Northcentral Electric.

“I go throughout the whole state and I hear about HSUD,” he said. “Holly Springs is my home. What we’ve been going through – it hurts. If you love Holly Springs, it hurts.

“Mr. Campbell has experience with substations but I have experience in going into substations with experts to get it corrected.”

Ward 4 alderman Patricia Merriweather asked Jones how he assures projects get completed “in an accurate and sequential way.”

Jones said he has dealt with federal financial aid for 17 years. Gipson asked Jones what type of business he was in for 17 years.

Jones said he had a hair school and then a small trade school that closed about seven years ago.

“As for as on the board for Northcentral?” Gipson asked.

“Twenty years,” Jones said.

Gipson said experts come in and haven’t actually done the planning.

Jones said he has been there during the planning at Northcentral. The general manager at Northcentral is not a lineman either, he said.

“I want to come in and put a plan in place so we can move forward,” he said.

Gipson said every utility has its own personality.

“What is your plan?” she asked. “What happens with your position at Northcentral?”

He would remain on the board, he said. It would not be a conflict of interest.

“I see that as a plus, particularly building HSUD’s strong structure again,” Merriweather said. “Tell me about your 90-day plan.”

Jones said he believes a small 90-day plan is needed. And an engineer with lots of experience is needed. He said he has spoken to a retired engineer who would commit to two years and help get the plan together “to put Holly Springs where we need to be. I understand there’s been no audit in two years. That’s a big issue with Holly Springs and TVA.”

“We have had an audit,” Gipson said.

Ward 3 alderman Colter Teel asked Campbell be included in the discussion because “that has been an issue we’ve struggled at. What do you see to make that better?”

Jones said Facebook is put to good use at Northcentral during outages to communicate with customers.

“I would let the board of aldermen and mayor know what’s going on,” Jones said. “I heard Mr. (Jim) Smith say aldermen can’t answer his questions. Facebook is one way to get things out to the public. I’m on the outside looking in. The AMI. I saw somebody on Facebook today saying they don’t know their bill.”

Campbell said he would use Facebook, radio and put upcoming construction notices in the newspaper.

“Planned outages. It needs to be notified,” Teel said. “Other companies are able to text alerts. Is there something there? There’s gotta be something to get more indepth other than Facebook.”

“We have text messaging and Facebook and Social Media is what we use now,” said Gipson. “And for the record, this board has been aware they’re in the loop. We’ve talked also with GE. We presented something after the first of the year.”

“You are acting general manager at HSUD,” said Shipp to Gipson. “I’d like to know what’s going on.”

“That information has been presented to the public and this board,” Gipson said.

Next up was Wayne Jones.

Gipson said she had spoken with him earlier in the day to see if he would be interested in the public works position which has been vacant for a long while.

“You are once an applicant for general manager,” Fountain began. “I see you are on the agenda as public works director. Is that what you have agreed upon?”

Jones said he was asked by Mayor Gipson earlier in the morning if he would be interested in the public works position and told him she was bringing Campbell up as general manager.

His ultimate goal was to be the general manager at HSUD, he said.

“My goal is to serve the city. In order to do this job, I need the support of the mayor and board of aldermen by a 5-0 vote,” Jones said. “When you have a mayor and board of aldermen in unity it makes a lot of difference.

“Do I want it? Yes. If you have me as director of public works, I know what to do. I’ve never run a utility department, but I’ve managed engineering projects and telecommunications. I’ve worked for the State of Mississippi for the bridge department. I know engineering and how to write projects.

“In this position, it’s building the relationships with people. That’s the way to get things done. If you don’t build relationships, you don’t get things done.

“Your (electric) bills are going up. Either we can be unified as the bills are going up. I’ll work for the city, this board, and ultimately for the people of Holly Springs. If I get hired, I know how to satisfy customers who I work for and then the contractors.

“The idea is to be able to explain it. You can’t do this by yourself. You have to surround yourself with people who can help. No savior can turn this thing around. I’m asking for a five-year contract - hiring and training people, getting the funds, and put a plan on paper.

“Numbers don’t lie. People do. You can see where you met you goals and where you didn’t.”

Jones said he can’t give a five-year plan for public works. He needs to know the details.

“I’m not going to sit up here and talk about what I don’t know anything about,” he said.

He said he is expert in fiber optics.

Gipson called for a motion to hire Campbell as general manager.

Teel said he is in limbo because he doesn’t take decisions lightly.

“You can hold it,” Gipson said.

Fountain agreed.

“I think it would be good to have an opportunity to vote with a clear mind,” she said. “I’m just torn right now. I need time to think about it.”

Merriweather said she thinks the city needs someone with strong leadership qualities.

“I am not pleased at the trajectory of HSUD,” she said. “We need fresh eyes and stern leadership. We have have a lot of challenges financial wise, personnel wise, HR wise - 1,500 miles of lines, someone with the ability to look at all of it.

“My recommendations is very strong for Mr. Ricky Jones. We are already behind a serous eight ball.”

“We also have other applicants. We haven’t seen their applications,” Fountain said.

Gipson said the utility needs someone with strong experience as general manager, a great steward, and it is also important for the person work well with others and what it takes to utilize this type of cooperation.

Shipp then made a motion to hire Ricky Jones as general manager. Merriweather seconded and the vote came to 2-2 with Fountain abstaining and Alderman Jones sequestered.

“We have other applicants out there,” Fountain said.

“What other ones?” Merriweather asked.

Fountain pointed to the mayor as head of HR for the answer to Merriweather’s question.

Teel explained his vote, saying it had nothing to do with the candidate.

“I need to go home and sleep on it,” said Teel. “I’ve never been able to get information the day of and sleep (afterward).”

The final vote came to 2-2 with Teel and Fountain voting against hiring Ricky Jones.

Gipson broke the tie by voting nay on the motion to hire Ricky Jones as General manager.