Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway on Tuesday will name Richard Sullivan, manager of ECO Resources in Biloxi and a former superintendent in the Public Works Department, as the new director of the Public Works Department.
Sullivan, who was chosen from among 28 applicants, will replace longtime director Jerry Morgan, who is retiring. Holloway will ask the City Council to approve Sullivan at Tuesday’s meeting. The position will pay $67,746 annually.
“Richard is uniquely qualified for this position,” Holloway said. “He was a key manager in the department for eight years before moving to ECO in 1991, and he has worked closely with the department on a daily basis since then. He can step right in and keep our program of work on schedule.”
As Public Works director, the 49-year-old Sullivan will oversee a department of 90 employees and an annual operating budget of more than $16 million. Additionally, the department is responsible for more than $40 million in capital projects, with almost half of those projects now under construction.
The city began a nationwide search for a new Public Works director in May.
“This is a key position for the city, particularly in light of the tremendous amount of streets and drainage work the city has underway,” Holloway said. “With Richard, we have someone who has strong administrative and management skills, with both public and private experience.”
Sullivan has served since 1991 as south Mississippi district manager for ECO, the city’s water and sewer contactor. He was the city’s utility superintendent in the Public Works Department from 1983 to 1991, when Biloxi privatized its municipal water and sewer functions.
Before joining the city in ‘83, Sullivan was a foreman with Brown & Root in Pascagoula and a general foreman with Pullman-Kellogg, a contractor at the Shell Oil refinery in New Orleans.
