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Century Hires UWF Professor As Town Clerk
June 8, 2010
The Town of Century has hired a University of West Florida professor as their new town clerk.
The town council voted Monday night to hire Darlene Peters of Pensacola to replace Dorothy Sims who retired at the end of April. Peters is currently a School of Education instructor at UWF, and an adjunct instructor at Pensacola Junior College. She holds a doctorate in instructional technology from UWF, a masters of business administration from the University of Pittsburgh and a bachelor’s of science degree from Gannon University in Pennsylvania. She also holds a valid massage therapist license in Florida.
“She seems to be a very highly qualified individual,” Council President Ann Brooks said, after noting that Peters is proficient in numerous office programs, including the Quicken accounting software used by the town.
According to Mayor Freddie McCall, a total of 33 people applied for the position. Seven of those individuals were interviewed by McCall and Robert Hudson, the town’s accountant. McCall said Peters was selected based upon her background and experience.
Councilman Gary Riley, who said he reviewed the resumes of the top seven applicants, agreed that Peters was highly qualified for the position.
“As far as I am concerned,” Riley said, “she is a top pick.”
Peters’ appointment was not unanimous, with council member Henry Hawkins voting against hiring her.
Hawkins claimed that, based upon the town charter, the mayor had no right to conduct the job interview or hire an employee without the council’s direct involvement. He said the council had no right to delegate the hiring authority to the the mayor.
After Sims’ retirement, the council voted to have McCall and Hudson review resumes, conduct interviews and present the top candidate to the council.
The council did not set a salary for the clerk’s position at Monday night’s meeting.
Pictured top: Century Town Council President Ann Brooks (left) reads the resume of new Town Clerk Darlene Peters Monday night as (L-R) Sharon Scott, Henry Hawkins and Gary Riley listen. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Comments
30 Responses to “Century Hires UWF Professor As Town Clerk”
Talk about the buddy system…isn’t it fishy that a university professor, a”Dr.” to be specific will just drop a career like that for a town clerk position. What’s done in the dark will come to the light, that’s straight out of the Bible. Just watch what unfolds.
That is all.
It sounds like century needs someone who is qualified to fix the mess.
It sounds like century is not much different from the rest of the united states
Maybe someone from not there will bring some nice ideas. Maybe learn from this person
Thanks hard judge. I appreciate it. Darlene
Mrs. Peters,
You have a lot of class! Double welcome!
Dear Residents of Century,
I want to thank those who have graciously welcomed me to Century’s City Hall. Now that I have a full time job in Century, I agree, I should live here. I empathize with those who have reservations about my taking the position. I started my employment this week, and I am very grateful for the support I have received from the Council Members, Mayor McCall, Mr. Hudson, and the employees at Century’s City Hall, including Dorothy, Karen, Kristina, Angela, Denise, and Louise.
I have resigned at UWF to start as Town Clerk full time. I plan on doing the best I can as Town Clerk for Century. I am hoping that with my skills, knowledge, and abilities, I can bring some organization, efficiency, and effectiveness in my duties to the town for its benefit. As for the jabs about being a licensed massage therapist, yes, this is on my resume because I complete instructional technology research and teach in the field, and feel that in order to do so, I should have the same credentials as those I teach and complete research with. Thank you for giving me this opportunity, and thanks so much for your support John. You’re a trooper.
Sincerely, Darlene
I know Darlene Peters and worked with her for several years. She is a superior individual; hard working; who makes a tremendous positive impression on everyone she meets. In addition, she is a charming gracious lady! Give her the opportunity and don’t judge on the rhetoric by those who haven’t a clue. Professionalism and leadership is her forte.
Well, some of you folks are pretty harsh yourselves when it comes to commenting on the quality of people leading the town of Century. When it comes to bragging on the qualifications of this lady, you question their wisdom there, too. Is there nothing the leaders of Century can do to please anyone?
Mrs. Sims did quite well over the years, I thought, even though she had to work with a bunch of people just like us. I only hope Ms. Peters won’t be worn to a frazzle too quickly by the criticism and second-guessing.
Welcome, Ms. Peters. I for one wish you well.
There’s more to this than meets the eye, you can bet on it!!
Congratulations Century on hiring such a well rounded and obviously well qualified individual.
The town has a lot of issues and is to be commended for going outside the usual pool of applicants to get some new blood with hopefully some fresh perspectives on the issues. So often,because of small town politics, we see someone’s niece, brother or cousin hired to public positions and the mistakes of the past are perpetuated.
REGARDING:
“She also holds a valid massage therapist license in Florida.”
well rounded and versatile, useful skills
She thought it important enough to list it on her UWF bio page, so we included it.
I don’t know if she’s leaving UWF or PJC (perhaps she teaches night classes?). But the Century clerk job is full time.
I’m confused about something. Is this Town Clerk position a part time one that Ms. Peters will perform while still teaching, etc. at W. Florida and PJC, or is she retiring from teaching and going to be a full time clerk for the town of Century??
Just wondering!
Finally someone with a brain….you said it southern hospitality.
Here you have a canidate for Town Clerk who is probabaly more qualified to handle town business than those whom you have “elected” to run your town and yet you still complain.
AND
Where is the Southern Hopitality? How about welcoming a new friend and neighbor instead of condeming a stranger?
Reading the majority of these comments helps me understand the complaint department sign with the hand grenade and the #1 attached to the pull pin.
I would like to say congratulations to her for being chosen; while, on the other hand, I believe that someone from the Century area should have been chosen. When this lady receives her paycheck, where do you think it will be spent? Where she lives, of course! Whereas, if a person from Century had been hired, the proponderence of their money would more-than-likely be spent in the Century area where they live. I believe that this lady is overqualified and I don’t understand why she chose this position when she already has a supposedly good career and income, while the qualified applicants of Century are overlooked.
Its a shame that no one from the TOWN OF CENTURY was hired. The town is requesting all of these degrees, but Dorothy didn’t need these degrees upon her being hired. All it would have taken was some one determined to have a decent job with out the qualifications and he/she would have worked out just fine, if not better. I not knocking the person that got the job, but we could’ve helped our own. how do they expect people to stay in THE TOWN OF CENTURY, if people out of THE TOWN OF CENTURY continue to take our jobs.
Impressive resume – yes. But, why would a person with an MBA and PhD take a town clerk position paying WAY below her “market value”? Something just don’t seem right about this!
You are making a mistake, you will see how the town is divided and cannot work as a team unit. I would stay where I am at.
Why would someone with these qualifications want to work in Century?
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but why is the Town of Century hiring someone who is obviously overqualified for job and looks like she’s never lived one day in the town herself. I mean, I’m sure there were plenty of qualified candidates that the Council could have hired that actually lived in Century or had roots in North Escambia and wanted to go home and help out the community. Personally, I think she’s just an opportunist who’s just taking this job to add to her resume so she can jump ship to a better paying position somewhere else. I mean seriously, do you think she’s honestly going to be working as the Town’s clerk for the next 20 years or do you think she’ll leave at the drop of a pin as soon as she gets hired at another university or gets tenure?
Especially impressive is that “She also holds a valid massage therapist license in Florida.” That is some in depth reporting there. I wonder how many fillings she has?
Welcome to Century,i wish her the best,but i have to wonder why a person with that kind of back ground would choose this town.Can they even afford to pay her?Let’s hope for the best and welcome her with open minds.
Why in the world would she want to work here!? Good luck. It’ll be a miracle if she stays long with the psychos running this town.
impressive
Good luck Ms Peters maybe u can help with the north end i love century but it needs of help.
Very good resume. Maybe she can teach a class in how to make friends and influence enemies as her first task,and start with the council.
Well the city needs good leadership and this looks like a step in the correct direction. I hope she stays when she see’s how bad the leadership and town really is.
She sure does seem over qualified to me. Hope she lasts longer than the new Principal in Atmore.
Welcome to the circus, Ms. Peters. Good luck!