Commissioners appointed Minnie Hightower as the Director of Personnel for Orange County at their meeting Monday. The Commissioners Court interviewed four candidates in the morning for the position before choosing Hightower during the court’s afternoon session. Commissioner David Dubose voted against the appointment preferring to hire from within the county. Dubose said there were two candidates from the county with at least 20 years experience in human resources, one in the sheriff’s office the other actually in personnel, and he wanted one of those to get promoted. Commissioner John Banken joined Dubose in opposing the appointment. Hightower does have 20 years experience in human resources work with Toyota in Mississippi and with the city of Lufkin. She is a native of southeast Texas in Galveston County. Hightower is looking forward to moving back to Texas and be closer to her family instead of 500 miles away where she was working in Mississippi. Her first day as Director of Personnel will be Tuesday, March 3. County buses will be used during the Bassmasters Fishing Tournament in March. The Commissioners Court unanimously approved allowing three county buses to be used the weekend of the tournament. The Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission gave Bobby Fillyaw with the Economic Development Corporation permission to use the buses and to establish a set route for the buses to run during the tournament. Commissioner John Banken was the lone dissenting vote in having the county pay for the fuel to run the buses. The Court approved up to 500 dollars from the contingency fund be used to pay for the propane fuel. The Orange County Economic Development Corporation will pay the drivers to operate the buses at $10 an hour. Commissioners approved the preliminary plat for Magnolia Ranch a proposed subdivision in Precinct 3 located south of FM 105 near the Paulwood Subdivision.
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