The Leflore County Board of Supervisors approved a shift in the responsibility for mosquito spraying management in the county Monday — but not without some contentious debate.
Johnny Gary Jr., county administrator and chancery clerk, spoke on a recommendation that would move the supervision from the county administration office to the county road department, which is run by Road Manager Jerry Smith.
Before the vote, Gary explained that the responsibility falls partly under his administration, which then requests the assistance of the roads department.
Gary said this request would be a minimal transition, since Smith already “works with the grass cutting and spraying and what have you.”
After this request, an argument broke out between the board members about who should be accountable for this task.
“Over the years, this has always fallen under the county administrator,” said District 1 Supervisor Sam Abraham, a former chancery clerk and county administrator. “Mr. Smith has got all that he can handle with his grass.”
“Mr. Gary is the county administrator. He is working on the budget and everything every day,” Robert Collins, the board president, replied. “He ain’t got time to worry about where the mosquito trucks are at. So why not let Mr. Smith go back to what he is used to handling?”
Collins said he was the one who added this item to the meeting’s agenda.
Gary said his transfer request is mostly a clerical issue.
He said that there would be no change in responsibility between workers and that it would merely be more observation handed to the roads department for a topic they know well.
Some members argued that this added work should mean higher pay for some road workers, especially Smith.
District 3 Supervisor Anjuan Brown said he has seen similar requests for the last four years.
“Jerry has a whole lot on his plate, so if Jerry gets more responsibilities, are you going to pay him?” Brown asked.
Brown then suggested that perhaps some of Gary’s salary should be transferred to Smith, which raised tempers further.
“I don’t know what the other county administrators do in other counties, but I don’t envision them chasing down the mosquito truck,” said District 2 Supervisor Reginald Moore, the board’s vice president.
Moore said he was “in total agreement with the county administrator with that being under the roads department.”
Abraham, again, stated that this is the “way it’s always been.”
“The way we are angling this thing right now, we aren’t making any decisions, and we’re trying to make it personal,” District 4 Supervisor Eric Mitchell said. “We need to get away from making it personal, and I feel we need to respect whatever the county administration’s decisions are. Whether it’s been four years, eight years or 10 years, it’s a new county administrator.”
Brown countered that because this topic seems to come back every year, it is personal.
Before the vote, Collins said that he feels a change in overseeing the pest control should not warrant a pay raise for an individual. Rather, he said, “if we want to give more money, let’s work on this budget and give a countywide raise.”
Gary made one last clarification to explain his position.
“My recommendation is not to change anyone’s raise of pay nor take job responsibility from anyone,” he said. “My recommendation was simply to give better oversight and insight to whoever is dealing with the county as relation to the roads and spraying.”
The transferred responsibility of both the trucking and spraying passed 3-2, with Brown and Abraham voting no.
After the meeting, Gary said he was unsure why the decision got so heated.
“It could just be difference of opinion,” he said. “At the end of the day I feel as though the county will be in better shape because of it.”
When asked about the new task given to the road department, Smith said he does not mind adding that to his list.
“Like I always say, we are out here for the health and support of the people in the county,” he said.
“Whatever we can do in the road department to help and assist, we always have an open heart and a willingness to do it.”
Smith said he does not pay much attention to the debate over possible pay raises.
“That is something I have never gotten into,” he said. “If they give it to me, I appreciate it; if they don’t, I’ll do my best without it.”
• Contact Adam Bakst at 581-7233 or abakst@gwcommonwealth.com. Twitter: @AdamBakst_GWCW
