Oktibbeha County Administrator Emily Garrard will retire in June after almost seven years in the position and 18 working for the county, she announced at Monday’s board of supervisors meeting.
She had told the board in October she hoped to retire in December but agreed to stay an extra six months while the board searches for her successor, she told The Dispatch. The board voted unanimously to clarify the job description and start advertising for applicants.
“You’ve got to be careful that you get somebody that’s got broad experience in management, that’s familiar with all areas,” Garrard told the board at the meeting. “Personnel management is a big part of this job, and the biggest headache of this job.”
The responsibilities of the county administrator job include overseeing all finances and properties as well as personnel.
An Oktibbeha County native and Mississippi State University graduate, Garrard was the county comptroller from 2002 to 2014, and she was an administrative assistant and bookkeeper at MSU from 1980 to 1987.
In her time as county administrator, Garrard said, some of the county’s achievements include building a storm shelter, starting the development of North Star Industrial Park in collaboration with the city of Starkville and putting the Blackjack and Longview road projects under contract.
Board President and District 5 Supervisor Joe Williams said it will be a challenge to find a replacement for someone with so much institutional knowledge of the county.
The board unanimously elected Williams the new president and District 4 Supervisor Bricklee Miller the new vice president at the start of the meeting. Williams was vice president last year under previous president John Montgomery of District 1.
The board votes to change its leadership at the first meeting of every calendar year.
Williams told The Dispatch he is “grateful” to have the board’s trust as president and to have a “very knowledgeable” vice president in Miller.
In other business, County Engineer Clyde Pritchard told the board he is working on submitting state aid funding applications to repair the bridges at Harris Road, near Oktoc, and Harrell Road, northwest of the Oktibbeha County Lake.
Tess Vrbin was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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