By Billy Davis

A longtime employee of Allied Waste was approved Monday to head Panola County’s solid waste department.

Panola County Administrator David Chandler recommended the hiring of Jimmy Carlini, a Batesville resident. The five-man board of supervisors unanimously accepted the recommendation.

Supervisors approved a monthly salary of $3,750, slightly less than the $47,600 earned by former manager Dean Joiner. Joiner quietly quit the post in May without an explanation from the board.  

Chandler said Carlini will move into the manager’s role after accumulating 17 years at Allied Waste, located in Marks. Carlini drives a truck for the company, he said.

The search for Joiner’s replacement drew unintended attention when supervisors acknowledged that the manager’s position had not been made public. State law does not require job openings to be made public, but supervisors grudgingly agreed at a June 27 meeting to post future openings at the courthouses in Batesville and Sardis.

“We had a lot of good applicants – best we ever had,” Chandler told supervisors.

Management of the solid waste department falls under the duties of the county administrator.