Caldwell assumes Board of Supervisors presidency for new year

Photo: New Supervisors board president Lee Caldwell is given the gavel for the new year from 2023 board president Ray Denison. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)

DeSoto County Supervisors organized for the new year at its first meeting of 2024, held on Monday, Jan. 2 in Hernando

Supervisor Lee Caldwell was nominated and elected president of the board for the year. Caldwell, of Nesbit, replaces Ray Denison, who served as president of the board in 2023. She is District 4 Supervisor.

The board president serves in that position for one year and the post is typically rotated around board members with little, if any, opposition at the time. The board still must vote for president after a nomination and second at the first meeting of the new year.

Caldwell made history as the first woman supervisor in DeSoto County when first elected in 2011. Caldwell has previously served as board president and sits on and chairs many committees for DeSoto County such as Transportation Infrastructure, Fire/Emergency Services, Broadband, Agri-Education, and the Literacy Council.

Caldwell is also focused on enhancing transportation, flood control protection, and workforce development. She is married to John, the current Mississippi Northern District Transportation Commissioner. They have four children and eight grandchildren.

Denison, District 3 Supervisor from Walls, is a lifelong DeSoto County resident, a graduate of Horn Lake High School and attended Northwest Mississippi Community College with a major in business. Denison is married to his wife Patti.

Supervisor Jessie Medlin, who represents District 1, was elected as board vice president.

Tuesday was also the first meeting for new Supervisor Robert Foster, who was elected to fill the position left when Michael Lee ran for DeSoto County Sheriff last November.