Rhuel Dickinson had a great tenure while serving Simpson County as County Administrator.
During the 14 years he held that position, he had the opportunity to work for three different boards and said it was a pleasure to work for each of those boards. He commented that a lot of people who serve for other counties are not as fortunate as he was, adding that a lot time politics came into play but that was not the case in Simpson County.
Of the boards he has worked with, Dickinson said they always seemed to want what they thought was best for the county and didn’t base decisions on politics. He noted that the only problem was the county was sometimes limited in resources and could not always meet the needs of all the people as quickly as they wanted. Sometimes the expectation of constituents are not realistic, he said, and that can even be the case with new supervisors. There is only so much money that is available to fund projects in the county.
Prior to serving as the Simpson County Administrator, Dickinson served as Director of Technical Assistance with the State Auditor’s office. He also served seven years in Hinds County as a Deputy Chancery Clerk. His first county job was with D’Lo Water Park in 1985, and he officially has 37 years of service with the state and county positions.
But his plans are to stay active, and after 90 days he can come back and work for the county in a parttime position. During that time Regina Evans will serve as the Interim County Administrator. Dickinson’s work load will be divided up with other department heads within the county’s administrative offices. He said, of course, that would be a decision that would be made by the board.
He said he and his wife Fonda plan to travel a little and one of the places they are planning to see is the Ark in Kentucky. He also has plenty of projects on tap as well as those “Honey do’s.” He said he has a tractor and likes to keep things up around the house.
One of his interests is the Boy Scout Program, where he serves as an adult leader. He has been active in the scouting program since his sons, Trey and Dean, were part of the local program in 2000. In 2006 he joined the adult leadership.
In 2006 he became Assistant Scout Master and then became Scout Master for Troop 81 in 2008, a position in which he continues to serve.
He is also the Scout Master for the adult Wood Badge Program for the Council.
