The County Council was informed by Director of Administration Bunky Luffman late Friday afternoon, September 8th, that the Administration has reversed its action on Ms. Heather Lankford serving in the capacity as the “Acting Deputy Director of Public Works”.
Ms. Lankford was one of two individuals whose appointments had been rejected by the Wicomico County Council within the past several months.
Mr. Luffman reported that Ms. Lankford has been placed in the “Manager Engineer” position within the Department of Public Works and that he will be overseeing the Department until the County is able to hire a new Director. No further explanation was given for the restructuring of Ms. Lankford’s role in Public Works.
Ms. Lankford originally served as the Acting Director of Public Works for a period of 90 days as allowed by the County Charter. However, following the 90-day probationary period as Acting Director of Public Works, the County Executive unilaterally appointed Ms. Heather Lankford in the unauthorized capacity as Acting Deputy Director of Public Works on May 17, 2023. The County Charter does not recognize, nor provide for any such position as Acting Deputy Director.
The Wicomico County Council looks forward to continuing to rectify these outstanding hiring discrepancies as to avoid the unnecessary and costly measures associated with any further threats of litigation.