The Franklin County Board welcomed a familiar face to its nine-member representation last week.
Former treasurer John Gulley, comptroller at Rend Lake College, was appointed at the board's Nov. 20 meeting. Gulley was appointed by Chairman Randall Crocker to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Tom Vaughn.
"I've got big shoes to fill," Gulley said during the meeting. "I've heard Tom talk lots of times about people having servants' hearts. And Tom Vaughn has a servant's heart. It's an honor for me to fill the seat that he occupied and carry on with that servant's heart that he had. It's a big job, but I'm honored to do it."
Gulley served as the county's treasurer for 11 years.
"Since that time I've not been here, I've felt a void," he said. "I'm glad to be back and involved with county government."
In addition to Vaughn, board member David Rea is leaving after an extended period of time. Rea decided not to seek re-election. With the resignations and election, the board will have four new members at its reorganizational meeting Dec. 3.
Winning seats were Larry Miller and Ray Minor in district 2 and Jack Warren and Kevin Weston in district 3. Warren is an incumbent. Also re-elected were Chairman Crocker and Neil Hargis in district 1. Holdover members include Alan Price and Steve Leek.
In other business, the board accepted the resignation of custodian Bill Young, effective Dec. 30. The board will advertise for the position at an annual salary of $30,000.
County Engineer Mike Rolla received a 3 percent pay hike, effective with the new fiscal year on Dec. 1. Half of the $108,000 annual salary is paid by the state.
The board approved a balanced budget of $7.775 million, up from the current budget of $7.286 million.
And the calendar for next fiscal year was approved, with the addendum that county committee meetings on the first and third Mondays will be held at 4:30 p.m. rather than 4 p.m.
