The Sunflower County Board of Supervisors still has not taken action on the appointment for the Mississippi Delta Community College trustee board, a term that technically expired June 30.
Paula Sykes’ appointment to the board ran out at the end of last month, and the task of reappointing her or designating a new appointee fell upon outgoing District 3 Supervisor Dennis Holmes, who has yet to make a decision and submit his candidate to the Board of Supervisors.
Each county supervisor is charged with appointing a college board representative from his or her district, and the terms are staggered. Board Attorney Johnny McWilliams said on Monday, “The question is will the existing trustee, or the previous trustee, hold over or not?” At the supervisors’ last session, an uncertainty about the proper action to take arose after District 5 Supervisor Gloria Dickerson made a motion (that she later rescinded until the lawmakers could gain more clarity) to go ahead and vacate the seat until Holmes made a decision.
However, Holmes protested her initial proposal.
“Whoever is in office can serve until one is appointed,” he said.
McWilliams then declared that he would need to research and find out what actions the board could take.
And at Monday’s session when he was asked about the outcome of his research, McWilliams said, “The result of my research was that I found it to be about as confused an issue as I have ever come across. I can’t answer the question.”
McWilliams said he has spoken with the Attorney General’s office and has asked for an opinion on the matter, and until that arrives, all he could offer was his own guess.
“I think the office will be vacant,” he said.
Nevertheless, McWilliams said his research produced yet another uncertainty.
“I don’t know whether the question of whether there is a vacancy or a holdover belongs with this board or whether it belongs with the college board,” he said. “It may well be a decision that is made by the college board.”
As part of his research, McWilliams referenced a new House Bill, 1247, that went into effect on July 1 that he said is even more confusing.
He also mentioned a conversation with MDCC board attorney Richard Noble, who directed him to an AG’s opinion handed down in June, regarding another state community college.
“And that opinion said the law was so confused you couldn’t enforce it,” he said.
McWilliams concluded, “I don’t know exactly whether the Attorney General is going to give me an answer, but I’m going to ask the question, and that’s where it is.”
