Adams County supervisors have retained a consultant to help new Adams County Administrator Tuwanna Williams straighten out accounting records going back about three years as the county endured a high turnover rate of financial officers.
Supervisors questioned the need for contracting former Pike County administrator Chuck Lambert, but they agreed to retain him for another six months. Lambert, who helped prepare Adams County’s yearly budget that began Oct. 1, is being paid $70 an hour that Williams noted totals about $2,000 a month.
Williams — who became the county’s chief operations officer in July — said she needs Lambert’s help as she gets acclimated to the job and reviews past financial records. Williams replaced Mitzi Conn, who resigned after 15 months in a position filled by seven people on an interim or permanent basis since 2020. Conn is now administrator at the Natchez-Adams County Airport.
Meeting with the five supervisors Monday, Williams recommended Lambert be contractually retained through next September. However, after supervisors balked at that year-long timeframe, they agreed to shorten it to six months. That should be sufficient time “as things get corrected,” said Supervisor Kevin Wilson.
While Williams and supervisors didn’t go into details, Supervisor Ricky Gray said it appears the county’s administrative operations are “messed up more than I thought it was” to require Lambert’s assistance.
While not pointing fingers to possibly “who did wrong,” Supervisor Warren Gaines said “if it’s broke, we need to do the best thing to fix it.”
Lambert – a former Pike County supervisor as well as chief administrator – helped Adams County supervisors hammer out the budget in 2023 when the county administrator’s position was vacant.
Since Joe Murray departed in 2020 after 10 years as Adams County administrator, there have been four full-time administrators and two part-timers.
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