He’s back!

One month after announcing his resignation, Second District member Joe Johnson is back on the county commission.

Actually, he never really left.

Although Johnson had announced in a letter at the February meeting that he would be resigning effective March 1, the commission never voted on the resignation to make it official.

“I had (County Attorney) Hilton (Conger) to check with CTAS (County Technical Advisory Service) as far as the resignation and when it’s effective and its effective when this commission accepts it,” said County Mayor Tim Stribling during Monday night’s monthly meeting.

Second District member Jimmy Midgett made a motion that Johnson’s resignation not be accepted. First District Commissioner Mason Carter offered a second to the motion.

Third District member Jack Barton asked if Johnson is willing to serve.

“I spoke with him and he said he would appreciate it if we decided to do that (not accept the resignation),” replied Midgett.

The vote not to accept Johnson’s resignation was approved on a voice vote of the commission.

Johnson, who was seated in the audience during the meeting, took his place at the table with the other commissioners, after the vote was announced.

Johnson announced his resignation in a protest move after the commission in February failed to approve his proposed new pay plan for EMS staff. At the time Johnson said he was ashamed of the commission’s actions and no longer wanted to be part of the group. He asked County Mayor Stribling to read his type written resignation letter to the commission at the end of last month’s meeting.

Had the commission approved Johnson’s resignation, it would have had up to 120 days to fill the vacancy but the appointee could have only served until August, when the next general election is held for the office.

How do you draw pictures for a children’s book? Is it scary climbing up a tall pole to fix a problem? Why did you want to work with the Tennessee Highway Patrol? They were just a few of the questions community leaders answered when they visited DeKalb West School March 22, 2018 for the annual Elementary Career Day.

“The state of Tennessee encourages school counselors to begin as early as elementary school introducing students to the world of work and showing the relationship of work and education together,” said DWS School Counselor Bill Conger. “As part of the Path to College program, we’re striving to have students begin to explore a variety of careers at an early age.”

Illustrator/Author Shan Burklow demonstrated to students in Kindergarten through 5th grade how she draws the pictures for books. Jennifer Buterbaugh, whose children Grant and William attend DWS, told students about her career as a Registered Nurse. She let students use a stethoscope to listen to their heartbeat and showed them how to take a person’s temperature along with other aspects of her job with the Rutherford County Health Department. Tom Koblinsky told about one of his previous careers as a postal worker while Lieutenant Jimmy Neal of the Tennessee Highway Patrol explained the duties of his job and urged students to always buckle up when their parents are driving. Matt Adcock and Jerry Johnson with the DeKalb County Fire Department brought the firetruck out and discussed what skills it takes to become a firefighter. Josh Hoot with the DeKalb Telephone Cooperative not only talked about his job as a cable repairman, but he also showed students how he climbs the poles and how DTC’s lift truck operates.

A career day for students in the middle school grades will be held at DWS in May.