By Rupert Howell
Panola County Sheriff Dennis Darby and his top administrative staff made a heartfelt plea, during a budget meeting Monday, to supervisors in an attempt to raise patrol deputies’ salaries to that of other area law enforcement agencies.
Panola Partnership representatives also sought an increase in their yearly allotment for marketing and travel.
“We’re training people to go somewhere else and work,” Sheriff Darby told supervisors while praising deputies for their attitude.
“We have the lowest law enforcement pay in the area,”  Sheriff Department Administrator Robbie Haley told supervisors.
“They have to go next door (neighboring agencies) to get more,” Darby stated, “and I can’t blame them.”
“Some of them have second and third jobs,” Chief Deputy Chris Franklin noted.
The requested raise would put beginning deputies at $35,000 a year, a 24 percent increase over the current rate of $28,260.
The sheriff department officials also asked supervisors to raise the salary of the jail’s maintenance director Ben Chambers who SO administrators said, “Does maintenance all over the county and saves us a tremendous amount of money.”
Franklin mentioned air conditioner maintenance to lawn mower maintenance as some of the work done by Chambers as well as salvaging parts from vehicles to keep older patrol cars operable.
“He uses his own wrecker when we have to pull one of our cars in,” Franklin noted.
The sheriff department officials recommended Chambers be raised to $3,500 per month from $2,475.
Freshmen supervisor Donald Phelps said, “I hate to see people on the lower end (of the pay scale)—seems they never catch up.”
Second term supervisor John Thomas responded, “I hate to see landowners bare the brunt.”
Supervisors also heard a request for an additional $50,000 from Panola Partnership when Executive Director Sonny Simmons explained funds were needed to market the new Airport Industrial site as well as funds needed to travel with Mississippi Development Authority to promote the area’s assets.
“You’ve got to knock on doors with MDA. We don’t have money in our budget to travel. They’re foreign companies who want to come to the Southeast or Mississippi. There is more foreign activity than in the past 11 years,” since he’s been here, Simmons said.
With Simmons were Panola Partnership Board members Stephen Whatley, Joe Azar and that board’s president Dale Hart.
Each board member cited appreciation of current support and the need for additional support with Simmons noting 4,000 similar organizations were consistently trying to lure 400 active projects to their locations.
He said that of 12 prospects looking at Panola County in the last 15 months, four are still active and that one company was very interested with putting a 300,000 square foot building on a 42 acre site at the Harmon Industrial Park.
Simmons reminded supervisors that he was retiring in March of 2017 stating he thought a successor should be chosen by January of that year to work with him for two to three months in transition.