The search to replace the late Roger Short as Lowndes County parks director is in its preliminary stages, according to County Administrator Jay Fisher.
Short, 72, passed away suddenly on Oct. 6. He had been county recreation director ever since the department was created in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Columbus-Lowndes Recreation Authority in 2017.
Fisher said he is working to line up an interim director and develop an updated job description.
“We’re going to need an interim director for sure pretty quickly,” he said. “I’m collecting names, and I’ve also reached out to the Mississippi Recreation and Parks Association for recommendations on what we could do and should do and who we should be talking to.”
The job description for the permanent position will need to be tweaked, Fisher said.
“We’re starting to develop a job description and what it should entail so we can think forward a little bit,” he said. “We need to include management of the new sports complex, and what that’s going to look like.”
Construction is underway on a $12 million sports complex that would build eight baseball/softball fields, a multipurpose building and a playground on a nearly 90-acre site off Highway 82 west of Columbus.
Short’s job was part-time and entailed managing the baseball and softball programs at Lake Lowndes and maintenance and upkeep at the soccer complex, Fisher said. He also oversaw the county’s eight community centers, as well as its boat ramps.
He was paid about $40,000 a year, Fisher explained.
“He was limited in how much he could make because he was already a (Public Employment Retirement System) retiree,” Fisher said. “He only made half of what the salary was for the position. I think they set it at that level to compensate him fairly.”
Fisher said a salary for the new recreation director had not been set, but “I imagine it will be less than ($80,000).”
There isn’t a timeline for when the county will begin advertising for the position, Fisher said.
“It needs to be sooner rather than later, but I don’t want to advertise until I know what the scope of the job is going to be,” he said.
Lowndes County Board of Supervisors President Trip Hairston said he hoped an interim would be in place by the end of the year.
“If we get into the spring without anybody, it’ll be a problem,” he said.
Baseball and softball registration aren’t until next year, Hairston said, and the soccer program at the soccer complex is managed by the Columbus Soccer Organization. For now, other functions normally handled by Short’s office are being taken care of by others.
“(Fisher) is handling the stuff at the soccer complex right now, getting the grass cut and stuff,” Hairston said.
“It’s the same with the community centers. The infrastructure is in place. There was just not a deputy in place. (Short) did all of that.”
Fisher said the recreation department has a staff of about five people: an administrative assistant and maintenance supervisor who are full-time, and one full-time and two-part time people who work with the community centers.
Hairston said he was looking to bring in someone who could both manage the sports complex, once it’s complete, as well as continue the growth in baseball and softball programs.
“There’s a lot to do with managing a facility, and that’s something that they didn’t have to do in the past,” he said. “They’ll need to know how all that works. We also want to continue growing the program — we saw a 53 percent increase since 2019 in baseball and softball.”
He also said the position will likely become full-time once the sports complex is open.
District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks, who has been critical of the sports complex’s focus on baseball and softball, said he wants to just hire an interim for now.
“Right now I’m only interested in hiring someone who will get us through this fiscal year,” he said. “The reason being that we don’t know what the job is going to look like in the future. I’m interested in a lot more conversation about long-term goals and objectives.”
The county sportsplex is set to be complete in August 2023, and the county’s fiscal year ends Sept. 30.
Brooks said he thought the county should talk to the city about working together in some fashion. He doesn’t think the county can support two “viable” recreation programs.
“If we get the grant to fund the second phase out there, then it will be a real sports complex, and I think that will dry up the city’s programs,” he said.
The county is pursuing a grant through the Department of Defense’s Defense Community Infrastructure Program, which focuses on helping communities near military installations raise the quality of life. The money would be used to build a multi-purpose building that would include both a gymnasium and a storm shelter.
Brooks said he didn’t have any specific plans for what a city-county collaboration would look like, but thinks the discussions need to happen.
“We need to just sit down with them and talk, but I don’t know what that animal would look like,” he said. “But I don’t think we can both support viable programs, and then you’ve got Caledonia doing their own thing, too.”
Hairston also said he was open to some collaboration with the city’s programs.
“I’ve always wanted to work with their programming, have our teams play against their teams,” he said. “(Short) was for that, too, and I think it’s important we do that. … Facilities were the real rub (between the city and county) before the split and I don’t know how that’s going to work.”
The city and county formerly worked together via the Columbus-Lowndes Recreation Authority, which was dissolved by the county in 2017.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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