Khalid Woods, the former public works director who resigned after 11 days, is back on the job.
The announcement was made by Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba at a press conference on Monday.
Lumumba wouldn’t go into details on why Woods decided to resign back in July, only saying “he wants to do a good job and his concern of what he needed to do a good job, he wanted to make sure there was further conversation about that.”
The mayor did say Woods was concerned about data, specifically a capital improvement plan for the city. Lumumba said he assured Woods that the city does have a capital improvement plan in place.
During Woods’ first tenure, Lumumba said he was unable to speak with him due to personal matters, including a death in the mayor’s family.
“I think that everyone is back on track and prepared to move the city forward,” Lumumba said. “We’re happy that someone of his skill set will join the ranks of our public works team as we try to tackle decades-old challenges in our city. So, yes, he is back.”
Woods was announced as the new director during a Jackson City Council meeting on July 18. Before he took the job with Jackson, Woods, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, was working as a deputy director of public works in Florida. He was replacing city engineer Robert Lee, who had been serving as public works director since May.
