Quitman Development Corp. begins process for finding a new director

By Larry Tucker
editor@wood.cm
Posted 3/11/20

The Quitman Development Corporation (QDC) spent over an hour Monday discussing the approach to hiring a new executive director. The QDC and former executive director Denea Hudman parted ways Feb. 27 when the board moved to end the oral independent-contractor agreement.

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Quitman Development Corp. begins process for finding a new director

Posted

The Quitman Development Corporation (QDC) spent over an hour Monday discussing the approach to hiring a new executive director. The QDC and former executive director Denea Hudman parted ways Feb. 27 when the board moved to end the oral independent-contractor agreement.

The board discussed the possibility of bringing the director’s position under the direction of the city administration.

“I did have a board member ask us to consider going back to the executive director becoming a city employee,” said Board President Martha Scroggins. “I think the reason why this was offered for consideration was that we would be able to offer benefits such as retirement benefits to that position. We don’t have to hire someone next week, but we do need to move ahead. We have not opened this for applications or anything. We are just going to consider this. I don’t want to impose on the city staff forever, but we need to be very careful in what we decide.”

Scroggins said she had visited with strategic planner Ailsha Cook for her input into the situation.

“I did talk to Alisha Cook for experience in training EDCs on whether the executive director should be a city employee verses an independent contractor,” Scroggins added. “We could execute a service agreement with the city where we would agree to pay some of the costs. The employee would work for the mayor and city council, not the QDC board. The QDC would function as an advisory board, and the director would report directly to the mayor and city council.”

Board member David Dobbs said, “I have talked to Mercy (Rushing) in Mineola over the past several years. She came from an EDC background. We also have Craig (Lindholm) in Winnsboro. He has been an EDC director and is city manager now. I think we can get honesty from these two communities that neighbor us on some of the struggles.”

Brad Medlin spoke on the relationship between the QDC and city council. “There seems to be a disconnect between the QDC and the city council. We need to come together. I think we have the opportunity to hit the reset button. Quitman needs a do-over,” Medlin stated. “We don’t need to jump in and hire the first person that comes in here. We need to really and truly know what we are getting into.”

Dobbs said, “We need to have a work day so we can figure out what it is we want. We are getting so close. This is about working with the chamber, the QDC and the city to make sure our people survive.” 

Scroggins said the different groups need to come together. “You won’t get an argument from the president about working with the chamber and the downtown merchants. That is our function, that’s what we need to do. We need to bring traffic into our current merchants and bring additional merchants in,” Scroggins explained. “Let’s do a workshop. What can we do to help?”

Dobbs said, “I don’t want any business owner to be shy to ask us about anything. It’s a new day. I want them to trust us enough to come to us with what you need. Let’s take a step back and look at how we work with the chamber and our current businesses to help them not only to survive, but to thrive.”

A committee was formed to research the pros and cons of making the director’s job a city position. The board decided to move forward with a workshop at their April meeting. 

The board did discuss strategic planning, and the creation of a web site was set as a priority to be dealt with immediately.