Election only mystery for upcoming vote.

The presidency of the Warren County Board of Supervisors is taking center stage this year as the only mystery among the board’s annual appointments, as four other key positions appear safe.

Elected annually on a will-and-pleasure basis are the positions of board attorney, manager of the road department, county engineer and county administrator.

None of those jobs is in the crosshairs of supervisors’ discussions for the first time in four years – the last time supervisors faced the voters.

&#8220All positions will remain static for the current year,” said Carl Flanders, District 4 supervisor and this year’s board president, reflecting a turnabout from the last two years when Flanders opposed reappointing John Smith as the county’s administrator because of his desire to remake the job as one that oversees personnel as well as finances.

Despite awarding 3 percent pay raises in all county departments, Smith, a former city auditor, created a $13.7 million spending plan that kept property tax rates from rising.

Attorney Paul Winfield is expected back as board counsel, as well as County Engineer John McKee and Road Manager Richard Winans.

Whereas those jobs are safe this year, the ceremonial position of board president for 2007 is anyone’s guess.

The president chairs meetings and is the designee for speaking engagements throughout the year, ostensibly to reflect the board’s position. However, that part was always in some doubt this year with Flanders as president, as he has often been on the short side of board votes.

The first-term supervisor, who has already drawn an announced challenger in next year’s election from three-term former supervisor Bill Lauderdale, tried to put down in writing what the duties of the president should be.

In addition to running formal meetings, it spelled out an array of duties termed optional, including speaking engagements and readying agendas for informal meetings when no official votes are taken.

&#8220I believe it will help the incoming president to know exactly what is expected,” Flanders said. &#8220The ‘how’ is up to the president.”

Though District 1 supervisor and previous board president David McDonald said it &#8220would have been nice” to have a list of duties, the idea met mixed reviews from the rest of the board.

&#8220I’d hate to tell taxpayers that I needed a list to tell me what to do,” said District 5 Supervisor Richard George, who spent the balance of his second term (2000 through 2003) as board president.

In a rotation of the post, one that the board has refused to adopt officially, George would be next in line, considering District 2 Supervisor William Banks has been on the board barely a year. Because District 3 Supervisor Charles Selmon has had turns being president, Banks will be the only member who hasn’t handled the gavel.

Banks does plan a run for election for a full term next year and said Tuesday he is &#8220thinking about” the presidency if considered but is against &#8220writing down” the president’s duties.

So far, Banks’ only announced ballot challenger is Tommie F. Rawlings, an independent construction contractor who ran unsuccessfully for North Ward alderman in Vicksburg’s 2005 elections.

The board is expected to take up all the nominations when they meet again Jan. 2. Qualifying for all county elections set for 2007 begins in January and ends March 1, with the general election in November.

Paul Winfield expected to be reappointed.

Paul Winfield’s second year as attorney for the Warren County Board of Supervisors will likely be rewarded with a third, board members indicated.

Winfield was chosen board attorney in a 3-2 vote in January 2005 when 13-year board attorney Randy Sherard got only the votes of District 1 Supervisor David McDonald and District 5 Supervisor Richard George.

The job has proved lucrative for Winfield and his firm in 2006.

A look at invoices paid for legal services as of November shows Winfield & Moran has been paid $62,097.90, plus another $11,969.50 to reimburse the firm for money paid to other entities performing various services to the county.

While it exceeds by more than $9,000 the amount paid to Sherard during his final year, Winfield said more legal work has been required.

George said no change in representation is contemplated because Winfield &#8220has been adequate in most cases.” He said being board attorney is &#8220unique because of our needs,” and, &#8220It’s still a difficult task to combine our needs and the needs of his legal practice.”

Winfield is also attorney for the City of Port Gibson.

Specifically, Winfield mentioned a protested tax valuation that began when Sherard was still board attorney and a land dispute at Paw Paw Road still moving its way through the Circuit Court system as added cases.

With Winfield also asked to look into legal aspects of issues involving other county departments, the workload this year was &#8220enough to have a legal department,” he said.

The county also has employed other counsel, including Sherard and Ken Rector who was paid nearly $14,000 to review and recommend personnel policy updates.

Winfield, 33, expressed confidence in his abilities to represent the board in legal matters and drawing up contracts between the county and various public and private entities.

&#8220It’s challenging, but rewarding and a learning experience,” he said.

He is an Ole Miss graduate who attended law school at Southern University in Baton Rouge and was one of several local attorneys and firms considered two years ago to replace Sherard.

The whole issue of representation arose when District 4 Supervisor Carl Flanders cited a state law, supported by an attorney general’s opinion, that specifies a board of supervisors may hire an attorney; the annual pay is to be a supervisor’s salary, which would be $44,812 here.

The contract Warren County had with Sherard called for the county to pay a retainer of $1 a year and be billed a per-hour fee for routine legal work on the board’s behalf. In 2004, that per-hour fee was raised from $100 to $125.

Flanders voted with District 3 Supervisor Charles Selmon and then-District 2 Supervisor Michael Mayfield to hire Winfield, but no vote was taken on whether to heed the state law and opinion, and the hourly arrangement has continued.

The City of Vicksburg operates under a charter requiring appointment of a city attorney at the start of each four-year term. Nearly a decade ago, then-Mayor Robert Walker opted for creation of a city legal department with Nancy Thomas as city attorney. The city’s legal staff includes Thomas and associate city attorneys Walterine Langford and Bobby Robinson.