STARKVILLE — Incoming District 4 Supervisor Bricklee Miller, the first woman to serve on the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors, has wasted little time preparing for her new position since her November election.
Monday’s swearing-in ceremony was an emotional moment for Miller. Standing with numerous family members as she took her oath of office, Miller said she realized how her upcoming four-year term “is so much bigger than” her past accomplishments.
“I looked out at the crowd, and my heart was filled. It’s about all the people in my life that mentored me, guided me and even challenged me. Most importantly, it’s about the people that believed in me and voted for me,” she said. “They gave me their trust, and there’s no greater honor than that.”
In the weeks before the ceremony, Miller reached out to various county departments in an effort to get a feel for their statuses, attended various informational and educational summits for newly elected leaders and discussed potential infrastructure projects with state agencies.
Specifically, Miller outlined numerous discussions she would like to have in early 2016: Mississippi Department of Transportation’s Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) could potentially extend a pedestrian corridor down a portion of Blackjack Road to Mississippi State University if the city, county and university are willing to partner on a 20 percent funding match; a joint city-county 911 operations center could eliminate the need for emergency call relays to the city police department; and equipment repair issues continue to drain the Oktibbeha County Road Department budget.
“I look forward to taking my enthusiasm and passion into this job and trying to make our county even better than it already is. I’ve had so many people reach out to me and feed my enthusiasm with guidance and ideas,” she said. “I’m going to support everyone and try to be the voice of every single person. I’m taking on the challenge of this job wholeheartedly.”
Tenacity has been a staple trait of Miller’s over the years. In 1998, she applied for and failed to receive the director’s job at the Miss. Horse Park. She was hired to lead the MSU-affiliated organization two years later. In 2011, she only received 43 percent of the District 4 vote against former Supervisor Daniel Jackson. Miller ousted the incumbent by almost 50 votes this year.
Miller, 47, moved to Starkville from Meridian 25 years ago to attend MSU. Here, she met her husband of 16 years, Donnie Miller, who is a third generation cattle farmer in Oktibbeha County.
As the Miss. Horse Park’s director, she is responsible for the organization’s overall vision and direction. About 5 percent of nationwide agri-center directors are female, she said.
“I’ve had other jobs that would be considered a ‘man’s job,’ as they say,” she said referencing her work during college as a UPS package pre-loader. “During that time, I was the only female that worked on the belt.
“My parents were strong believers of gender equality, partially because they were blessed with four girls prior to having a son, and we all had to work on our family farm. I can’t remember one of them telling me to put down the weed eater, get off the tractor or a summer not filled with working with livestock and hay-hauling,” she added. “I am grateful now for the experiences and work ethic that my parents instilled in me.”
Is she proud to serve as Oktibbeha County’s first female supervisor? Absolutely, she says, but her election victory was not based on a male-female dynamic.
“Even though I am the first female supervisor in Oktibbeha County, I believe that men and women alike voted for me on my credentials and the results they have seen me produce, not because of my gender.”
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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