The Mississippi State Extension Service will propose that Northwest District Extension Office director and Vicksburg native John Coccaro replace outgoing Warren County extension director Terry Rector.

Central Mississippi Research and Extension Center Head Butch Withers notified supervisors of the selection at an informal meeting of supervisors Thursday.

&#8221Being a native of Vicksburg, this is truly a positive thing. Farmers will be very happy with his service,“ Withers said.

Supervisors will consider the proposal at their next regular meeting, Monday.

If approved, Coccaro would replace outgoing extension director Terry Rector, who plans to retire effective Oct. 31. Rector has been in extension work for 33 years, 22 of which have been in Warren County.

Coccaro has been director of the Northwest District Office in Stoneville since March 2004. Before that, he served as area Extension agent for agronomic crops and 4-H, based in Sharkey County, for 14 years. He is a 1979 graduate of St. Aloysius High School.

County extension directors must be approved by county governments. They are employees of Mississippi State University, with counties paying a percentage of salaries.

According to budget figures prepared by County Administrator John Smith, $20,221 was earmarked toward paying 40 percent of the position’s salary.

Withers told supervisors that the process of finding new county extension directors begins with statewide internal searches and typically takes up to six months. However, budget cuts and reorganization in the extension service offices led to an expedited selection process, Withers said.

&#8221Farmers will be tickled to death with him. We couldn’t ask for a smoother transition,“ said Rector, present at the meeting with Withers and Coccaro.

District 4 Supervisor Carl Flanders sought the meeting with Extension service officials about the replacement process, &#8221wanting dialogue,“ particularly about the percentage the county pays toward the salary.

All three gave reassurances to supervisors that the replacement would receive the same compensation that Rector receives.

In other business, Smith told the board that he met with representatives of Diebold Election Systems, Inc. to discuss troubleshooting methods, training methods for poll workers and storage ideas for the 138 touch-screen voting machines provided by the state and approved by the Board of Supervisors in August.

District 5 Supervisor Richard George expressed concern over the storage site, saying the facility will have to be &#8221designed for the long term and probably has to be built.“