I’m sure by now everyone has heard about the meeting that the Cosmetology Board Members and Executive Director Cynthia Johnson was called to the Capital on Tuesday February 10, 2015 for… The Clarion Ledger did an article that you can google…
Board that oversees hairstylists comes under fire
There were several misleading statements that were made in the article that I would like to elaborate on….
1. Cosmetology Board President Leisa McElreath and Executive Director Cynthia Johnson both stated the they believe the problem is due to lack of staff….. The only lack of staff they have is there are 3 inspectors positions that are vacant. These positions have nothing to due with the telephones being answered….
2. Cynthia Johnson stated that they had no dedicated receptionist… For the past year or so Shenika Gathrite has worked as the receptionist. She was very helpful to the people that came in to the office, but never was one to answer the phone… and just a couple of weeks ago Cynthia Johnson moved her to another position… Reciprocity, Permits and New Salon Applications… Now remember we are short 3 inspectors to open the new salons and we move this young lady off the front reception desk so now Letisha Jenkins who is responsible for getting your licenses out (which she is about 10 weeks behind) has stopped printing license to help the people at the reception desk…. It just goes from bad to WORST….
3. Cynthia Johnson stated there has been a 75 percent turnover of employees in the office in the last year….. She definitely told the truth about this… But the part see left out was all the turnover was due to GOOD employees taking either early retirement or just quitting because of HER HATEFULNESS and POOR LEADERSHIP and MANAGEMENT SKILLS… Oh and there was one employee that she did fire on his 364th day of employment…. Wade Hampton, which I think she fired him…well, I am sure you all can finish this thought on your own because we all know how good of a job Wade was doing.
4. Cynthia Johnson said the Board of Cosmetology , which licenses 20,000 to 25,000 Cosmetologist… I sure hate that we have lost about half of our licenses a few months ago it was 40,000 to 45,000 and approximately 5,000 salons
5. Cynthia Johnson said there is a backlog of day-to-day items to be sent out but she couldn’t provide how much of a back log…. That is so NOT true… I took a young lady to the Board office a couple of weeks ago for her to pay for her license renewal. She asked then Shenika Gathrite how long would it before I received my license and Shenika replied 8 to 10 weeks. If Cynthia Johnson has no ideal what the back log is in her office… She has NO BUSINESS RUNNING THE OFFICE!!!!
Cynthia Johnson has proven time and time again that she is unfit for this position. Former Board Attorney, Margarette Meeks, highly recommended Cynthia Johnson and we all know what happened with Margarette Meeks!!!!! I mean what can I say about a Mississippi State employee who drives around in a car tagged in Arizona!!!!!
Here is an FYI…. The Cosmetology Board Executive Director works for the will and the pleasure of the Board. NEW BOARD COULD MEAN NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR!!!!!
I would like to address the $477,000.00 that was spent on travel in 2013… Whom ever reported this information made it seem like this is what the Actual Board Members spent. I actually paid the Board office for a copy of all the Board Members Reimbursement of Expenses for 2012, 2013 and for the first 6 months of 2014….. The following is their reimbursements for 2013….
Dot Ennis———————————-11,941.00 Leisa McElreath—————————9,200.00 Teresa Whitman————————–8,932.00 Shelly Harsin——————————-8,108.00 Waylon Garrett—————————-7,838.00
Now remember this reimbursement is for their travel, food allowance, hotel, and their $40.00 per day pay…. So this comes to the Board members receiving around $46,000.00 of the $477,000.00 mentioned in the article… You have to be asking where did the other $431,000.00 go…. That money went to reimburse the 5 Inspectors that traveled daily through out the state inspecting the licensed salons and schools.. The inspectors also have to make special travel arrangements to make inspections for new salons….
What needs to be reported on is the amount of money that is being spend on attorney fees… Leisa McElreath and Teresa Whitman WILL NOT appear anywhere without the presents of the Board attorney… The agency pays $65.00 per hour that is bill by the Attorney General’s office… And MANY times the agency is paying this fee for the attorney to do clerical work or to set in the audience at a Policy and Procedure Update Event and play games on their ipad…
3 Comment(s)
Oh my. Can you set us straight on the amount the agency takes in vs what is “taken” by the general fund. I thought the agency was fully funded and excess went to general fund. Am I wrong to think that having all our $ going into the general fund is disastrous! ?
You are not wrong… But from what I understand the Board is giving an annual budget which for the present year is a little over $800,000.00…. Now what is special about their budget they can move the money around as need with the exception for the money allotted for personnel….
The Board’s Executive Director is partial to certain Board Members, she lies, she is a total different person outside of those Board meetings, she talks ugly to everyone, she thinks she runs that Agency, she is prejudice and well I could go on for days…..
The NEW Board should fire her ASAP! Melvin where can we make recommendations for a New Executive Director?
When will we know who our New Board Members are? I was told that people in the Board office and people from Oxford are saying that Dot and Waylon were not being reappointed! If true, this will be the biggest mistake the Governor’s Office ever made! The 3 Stooges have to go, but Dot and Waylon HAVE GOT TO STAY. They are the only Board Members that know what they are doing!