Terry: Mayor for all the right reasons

Holly Springs Mayor Charles Terry just rounded the corner of month 7 in office and it has been a fast ride.

The South Reporter sat down with Terry February 16 to discuss some of the challenges he’s faced as mayor and some of the joys of leadership, though Ice Storm 2026 by far has been his greatest challenge, as it has for other electric utilities in North Mississippi, his neighbors.

“It’s not a job I entered into for prestige, title or a pat on the back,” he said. “I’m entering this job on faith. It’s going to take prayer to get us back to where we need to be. Man can’t do it by himself. It’s going to take prayer. That’s what it’s going to take.”

The Pastor’s Consortium, formed by local pastors to help the mayor and other elected officials and employees to know they are supported, was established recently.

“We came in during budget time,” Terry said. “It was a challenge financially for the city. We didn’t have enough money to make payroll that summer. We had to go out and seek a loan until tax time in order to have money in place to balance the budget.”

Some of the initial challenges included:

• the state auditor’s department holding out $450,000 in sales tax from the city by the department of revenue for being behind three years on audits. It was over in the middle to late fall of 2025 before the state auditor started sending sales taxes to the city. The state auditor’s office is holding the money at the state auditor’s office and will write the Requests for Proposals, RFPs, to hire auditors to complete four years of audits of the city and the HSUD.

“We are still behind,” Terry said. “Right now we are waiting on the state audit department. They are running behind.”

• borrowing money to operate and pay employees. The city put up several certificates of deposit to borrow money to make payroll and obtained a $700,000 loan from the Northeast Mississippi Planning and Development District to float the city until new revenues began to pour in in January 2026.

The city was broke because the Tennessee Valley Authority stopped payment in lieu of tax (PILOT payments) by the Holly Springs Utility Department until the city paid its current invoices to vendors.

• hiring firms to do pre audits. The city recently hired two firms, one for the HSUD and for the city, to perform pre audits so when the state sends its auditors in, employees will be ready to assist them in going over the books.

“So, the city and HSUD has more challenges than we expected, which were heightened by this ice storm,” Terry said. “I’ve learned from past administrations, when they come in, they overhaul the staff,” he said. “So, I gave everyone an opportunity to show their worth.”

Employees were put on a 60 day probation while they were evaluated.

“Everyone doesn’t run their business management the same,” the mayor said. “So, we are still in the process of evaluating employees. We have to reevaluate all employees under department heads to make sure they are working for the city, not just for a paycheck. We want to be mindful of what the city needs are as well as what their family needs are.

“I want to make sure we are hiring qualified people with a diverse staff. I depend on our HR department for recommendations. We’re trying to make sure they select the best and most qualified for the jobs we have open.

“I depend on HR to do the vetting and doing interviewing. I don’t get involved with hiring. One of the things we need to get away from, especially in local government, is hiring friends, if they are not qualified for the position.”

Creating trust/respect

One of the biggest issues the city has is creating trust in the city, Terry said, being as transparent as the city can be and having an open-door policy. “I listen to everyone,” he said. “I have a street walker who comes by to talk to me. I respect a person for being a person, not for any title they may carry.”

Terry said giving a person time to present their concern and inclusivity are important values. All people deserve respect, especially from elected officials or anyone appointed or hired.

He said as interim general manager, he does not micromanage anyone at the utility.

“I expect them to know their jobs,” he said. We are trying to create a morale where they feel respected.” The board of aldermen have asked the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association to serve as a search committee for a general manager who has experience, knows the language of the utility business.

“It’s more to learning how to manage three departments, water, gas and electric,” he said. “I know the necessities of having someone who has experience.”

Workplace joy

Terry said he has found that city and HSUD employees are more cheerful because of the relaxed atmosphere. “I want everyone to feel comfortable,” he said. “I want them to feel free that they can talk to me and know I will listen about how we are going to make this place better.” He tries to be media friendly. “If media treats me in a friendly and positive way, I am going to treat them in a positive way,” he said. Terry said he wants the downtown square to become an entertainment center. He does not see retail coming back to the square, he said.

The Ice Storm Terry said the utility department will need more restructuring especially since the 2026 ice storm. He said in planning for disasters, such as the ice storm, HSUD should plan for longer than 24 days to recover.

“A lady said, you can’t prepare for something like this, so I said, if you can’t prepare your house for it, how can you prepare for it citywide? I feel we handled it in a positive way. Some of the better recognized utilities are just getting back on today. (February 16)”

Back to faith

Terry said of all the challenges, the budget, PILOT woes, sales tax being withheld, out of all the challenges, I prayed to the Lord, “you have put me through seven months.”

“My answer was, if I don’t give you an ice storm, you can’t see what I can do,” he said. “All we have to do now is to maintain.”

He said he got a number of calls from outside the city, as far away as Gurley Road, Hardaway Road, Hobson Road in Ashland, and in Benton County. People in the rural areas were blowing up his phone.

“It helped ratepayers to see we are concerned about everyone,” he said. “Some needed an opportunity to vent and say what they wanted to say. People just wanted to be heard. I gave them an opportunity to talk.

“I’ve enjoyed it. The county and the city worked well together during the outage. It’s amazing having to go through something to empathize with one another.”

Several contractors came in from different states and they worked safely. HSUD was not the only utility in this condition.

The ice storm was a great leveling rod.

“The bright side of the storm of 2026, we probably will be looking at less outages because we replaced lots of poles and the right-of-ways are cleared,” he said. “By summer, we should be in good standing.”