Saying he’d work with any officials his colleagues elect, Mayor-elect Paul Winfield, who’ll take his oath to join Vicksburg’s governing board today, announced his nominations for the city’s top jobs Tuesday.

They are:

• Walter Armstrong for police chief.

• Charles Atkins for fire chief.

• Kenneth Daniels for assistant fire chief, emergency response.

• Mark Hale for assistant fire chief, firefighting operations.

• Lee Davis Thames Jr. for city attorney.

• Allen Derivaux for city judge.

• Walter Osborne for city clerk.

All would be new, except for Osborne, who has been city clerk since 1999, and Derivaux, who has served previous administrations as a municipal court judge.

Winfield, 35, said he will place the names in nomination when his first official meeting with North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield and South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman takes place Tuesday.

Winfield said additional changes to department heads are possible.

The city charter calls for a slate of “corporate officers” to be elected by the board of mayor and aldermen at the outset of each new term. Two votes wins any job.

The charter officer positions are currently held by Osborne, City Attorney Nancy Thomas, Fire Chief Keith Rogers and Police Chief Tommy Moffett. Walterine Langford is city judge.

Tuesday was the first time Winfield and the two aldermen have all sat down for a face-to-face since Winfield bested departing Mayor Laurence Leyens in the June 2 election with 61.6 percent of the vote.

“Well, I’m not prepared to vote for any of those replacements, so it’s up to you,” Beauman said to Mayfield after hearing Winfield’s selections.

Mayfield — who had previously requested all nominations be put on hold for 30 days to provide for adequate personnel reviews — said he has not made up his mind on any of the positions yet. Technically, he could enforce his wish for a delay by not voting on any nominations for 30 days, but said he will be prepared to make at least some decisions by Tuesday.

“There will probably be some demotions, some people may be removed completely and without a doubt some people will keep their jobs,” said Mayfield, who added it is “very possible” he could make his own nominations for some of the positions.

Mayfield said he will personally notify those with jobs in jeopardy about their fate before he announces his decisions. He said he should begin having those conversations by the end of the week.

Mayfield is beginning his second four-year term today. He and Beauman, who is beginning his third term, had no opponents in this year’s elections.

Winfield has been calling for Moffett’s job since the primary campaign and has also called for change in the city court system, but he had not previously voiced his desire for change in the fire department administration. Chief Keith Rogers has been with the department since 1984 and chief since 2002. Winfield’s choice for his replacement, Atkins, recently celebrated 25 years with the fire department and oversees training. Both of his selections for the assistant fire chiefs would be in-house promotions.

Moffett, 59, was brought to Vicksburg by Leyens in 2001, shortly after he retired from the Biloxi Police Department as chief of 16 years and with 28 years total experience. Armstrong, 48, is a Batesville native and 25-year veteran of the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol where he holds the rank of lieutenant. Armstrong has resided in the Warren County for about 20 years, Winfield said.

The mayor-elect’s choice for city attorney, Thames, is a private attorney in Vicksburg. He would replace Thomas, who has been city attorney since 1997 and was in private practice for eight years prior to joining the City Hall staff. 

“All of these are well-educated, qualified people who I think will be good agents of change in our community,” Winfield said of his selections, adding, “but I will work with whomever this board elects to these positions — that’s what I’ve been elected to do.”  

Winfield said he’d like to see Langford, who was an assistant city attorney before becoming full-time judge, become a city prosecutor once more. In April 2008, the Leyens administration appointed then-city prosecutor Langford to head the court — marking the first time anyone has been given responsibility to head the entire city court’s services and staff.

Beauman said he would not support any changes to the current top officials because “I think they’ve all done a great job. I’ve been working with most of them for the past eight years, and we haven’t considered getting rid of any of them before now.” One key change is certain. Paul Rogers, longtime deputy city clerk, city clerk and strategic planner, is retiring after 32 years.

Winfield will officially take the oath of office today, and will recite it again before the public at an inauguration ceremony Friday at the Vicksburg Convention Center along with Mayfield and Beauman. The new board’s first meeting will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday in room 109 of the City Hall Annex, 1415 Walnut St.

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Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com