Porter, Collins to head up agency

 

A former legislative aide, judge’s son and grandson of a beloved legislator has the No. 2 spot at the department of job and family services.

Christopher Collins, 30, was named assistant director of the DJFS by the county commission at its Thursday meeting. He will take the post held by Terry Porter, who was named director of the DJFS at the same meeting.

Porter, who was serving as interim director, replaces Gene Myers, who retired on April 15.

According to his resume, the 30-year-old Collins’ last job was as a senior legislative aide to Sen. Cliff Hite, R-1, a post that ended in 2014. Before that he was an aide to Sen. Keith Faber, R-12, and Sen. Thomas Patton, R-24.

Collins is the son of Ironton Municipal Judge O. Clark Collins Jr., and grandson of the late Sen. Oakley C. Collins, who served the 17th District as a Republican for 22 years.

“Here is a guy who wants to return home,” commissioner Bill Pratt said after the meeting. “He has a diplomatic background and would be in the mix with the union and would set up nicely to be director.”

Pratt made the motion to hire Porter, while commissioner Freddie Hayes Jr. made the motion to hire Collins. Both decisions were unanimous by the commission.

“It was his qualifications,” Hayes said after the meeting. “He is very intelligent. We had a lot of qualified people. I liked his interview.”

Hayes denied that the appointment was political.

“Just because you are a judge’s son or the grandson of a political figure, you shouldn’t be denied a job,” Hayes said.

A total of 13 candidates submitted resumes for one or both of the openings.

Besides Collins and Porter they were Ironton attorney Paul David Knipp, Ironton Mayor Rich Blankenship, Ironton finance director Kristen Martin, retired DJFS employee Kenneth Ater, current DJFS employees Brad Carpenter and Lisa Massie, Jackson attorney Christen Finley, Necco employee Donna Reynolds, Scioto County DJFS employee Sharon Brumfield, delivery industry operations manager Shane Meadows and Ironton Detective Joe Ross.

Porter will now make $85,000 annually with 2 percent raises each year. Collins will start out at a minimum of $24.50 an hour or $50,960 a year. However that salary could be higher because his years at the Statehouse could put him in a higher classification.

Out of the approximately $7 million budget of the DJFS, $153,000 comes from the county general fund with an additional $80,000 for the children’s services division. The remainder is funded from state and federal tax dollars.

In other action the commission:

• Received a petition to establish Private Drive 15455 in Rome Township to the county engineer;

• Referred correspondence from Upper Township Trustees not to accept Private Drive 50 to the county engineer;

• Received the weekly dog warden’s report where no dogs were destroyed, five were adopted or went to rescue and none were redeemed by owners.