On Jan. 2, mostly new faces will be wrapped around a boardroom table in the old Adams County jailhouse, where the new Adams County Board of Supervisors will have their first regular meeting of the new year.

And according to the two incumbents and three supervisors-elect, those faces will be singing a more harmonious tune than the board did in previous years.

Darryl Grennell, who was uncontested in District 4 and will start his fourth term in January, said he expects to see stronger consensus among board members and more unanimous votes.

Thomas “Boo” Campbell, a longtime veteran of the board who chose not to run for re-election, said now was time for a change.

“I think it’s going to be a better board,” he said. “A couple of us old hens, including myself, will be gone,” he said.

Campbell and others said their biggest prediction for the new board is one of unity.

Five supervisors — one board

Campbell’s replacement, current board secretary Angela Hutchins, who defeated two opponents in the primary, foresees the new board working together better, she said.

Calvin Butler, who defeated incumbent S.E. “Spanky” Felter in the Aug. 2 primary and won the seat from Republican Grady “Cookie” Wilson in last week’s General Election, said working together will help the board achieve more for Adams County.

“The key here is going to be working together as a team,” he said. “I don’t think that’s taken place in the past few years.”

District 1 incumbent Mike Lazarus, who handily won his race in the primary and has voted with Grennell and Campbell on many issues in the last four years, will start his second term in January.

Lazarus said he thinks the new board will be fun to work with and said the new members seem focused on the same goal — moving Adams County forward.

“There’s not a lot of personal agendas (in the new board),” Lazarus said.

Additionally, the new members seem open-minded, Lazarus said, and he and Grennell are also open to their new ideas.

Grennell said he knows all three supervisors-elect and feels good about what they can accomplish together.

“Knowing these guys along with Mike, I think you’re going to see a lot of synergies here working together, trying to achieve the same goals,” Grennell said.

David Carter, an Independent, who defeated two-term incumbent Henry Watts last week, said he believes the new board will be working toward a common goal.

“Hopefully that goal is the future of Natchez,” Carter said.

Less talking — more walking

Campbell said bickering among the current board resulted in a stagnant board of supervisors.

“The board so often fought about things that are small, and it kept the board from achieving things we should have achieved,” Campbell said.

Campbell said he blames himself, in part, for allowing a divided board make some mistakes, such as borrowing $1.2 million for payroll at the first board meeting of the new budget year instead of raising taxes.

“To me that was ludicrous, crazy. I fault the majority of the board for not fighting like a dog to raise a little millage,” Campbell said.

“We made some bonehead mistakes.”

Campbell said he predicted the new board would be more receptive to ideas and that the new supervisors will be less set in his or her ways.

Hutchins said she thinks voters were tired of the board failing to see their ideas come to fruition.

“When the board is not in agreement, they cannot work together and (progress) can’t happen.”

Lazarus also lamented stagnation of the board, specifically in recreation.

“People voted for recreation, and we haven’t don’t anything yet.

“People are upset … they want us to follow through on things,” he said.

Lazarus said he believes the election shows that the majority of residents are not as concerned about raising a tax mill here or there but about getting a bang for their buck.

“I think people are opening up and telling us that they want to see something out of government,” Lazarus said.

Grennell said he could not speak for voters, but in his opinion, what they said at the polls reflects a desire for a more cohesive board.

“In listening to some voters out there, they want to see a board working closer together instead of constantly having arguments and battling all the time,” Grennell said.

Grennell said he also thinks the national political scene might have played a role in the local election.

“(Voters) are tired of listening to the news where congressmen and senators are constantly bickering and fighting,” Grennell said. “They want to see unification in government.”

Butler said the new board should establish a set of priorities and shared goals.

“We need a road map instead of just sitting and coming up with ideas and rambling,” Butler said.

New blood

Incumbents Grennell and Lazarus agreed that fresh ideas from new members will be welcomed.

“I’ve listened to a lot of these (candidates) and I respect their platforms,” Grennell said.

Grennell said, specially, Butler’s ideas about a litter committee and Carter’s ideas about recreation interested him.

“We’re ready and open for new ideas,” Lazarus said.

Carter said he respects what has happened the last four years, but he hopes to build on the progress and add to it while in office.

He compared the benefits of a significant turnover on the board to the intentional attempts of universities to hire administrators from outside the school’s network.

“When you have the exact same people, you get the exact same results,” Carter said.

Campbell said he also thought new blood would be good for the board.

“Sometimes you need some fresh ideas,” he said.

Hutchins, who has been board secretary for 23 years, said she looks forward to serving the county with a board vote and is ready to apply all she already knows about county government.

Carter said he looks forward to working with Grennell and Lazarus, who seem to have the respect of the people.

“Darryl has been there for a long time and is a stable and reasonable leader,” Carter said.

“I look forward to learning from him and Mike.”

Butler said having experienced supervisors on the board combined with the new energy will be great.

Housekeeping

Grennell said the new board could make some important changes by making some routine decisions at their first board meeting.

One of the positions the board must fill is a board attorney.

Grennell said during the past three terms, three different attorneys — Marion Smith, Bob Latham and current board attorney Bobby Cox served as county attorney.

“I’m not saying there’s going to be a change, but normally when there’s a new term that’s a possibility,” Grennell said.

“Really, it’s the prerogative of the board.”

The board will also vote on a board president, board vice president and whether or not to reappoint the county administrator.

Looking forward and up

Lazarus said he thinks the board will gain a greater sense of optimism with its new members.

“With new industries coming in, people are optimistic about good things happening and want to see (leaders) pursue that and do whatever it takes to keep the ball rolling,” Lazarus said.

Carter said he is a positive person and looks forward to meeting the challenges office will bring, both good and bad.

He said he problems can be dealt with in two ways.

“You can sit and complain or learn and analyze it and figure out why (the problem) happened,” Carter said.

Butler said he thinks residents are looking for positive ideas and voted to elect candidates who think outside the box.

“I ran (my campaign) off new ideas and new blood that is willing to work as a team,” Butler said.

Lazarus said he thinks voters are excited about making changes and moving forward as a county.

“I think everybody in Adams County is fired up, I see a spring in their steps and everybody is kicking around changes they want to make already.”

Carter recognized that the supervisors-elect and their supporters might be in the honeymoon stage until the board faces tough choices, but he is ready to take on the challenge.

“For us, people have high expectations and accountability has got to go up,” he said.

“Hopefully, reality meets the expectations.”