Wanted: A few good city employees. Natchez has two vacant positions &045; personnel director and public works director &045; and one department head leaving as of today, City Planner Bob Jackson.

Interim Public Works Director Reggie Carter retires in March, and longtime Personnel Director Kay Patt retired in December.

Those departures leave major holes in the city’s workforce, and the city needs a timeline for replacing those positions.

Aldermen have made a change to the personnel director position, making it one that reports directly to the mayor and board rather than to the city clerk.

Whoever takes Patt’s place has big shoes to fill, and now has some added responsibilities for being on the department head level.

The public works director is responsible now, in part, for making sure our streets are clean and our flower beds are planted. As the city works to improve its beautification efforts, this position is essential to that task.

And the city planner has tremendous responsibilities on his or her shoulders, with major projects under way and a constant clamor for ordinances to be revised and upheld.

City officials say they have received several good applications for the personnel director and public work director slots, but they have not yet set a timeline for hiring, nor have they set a timeline for hiring a new city planner.

We hope these positions will be filled quickly, and with quality individuals.

The business of the city won’t stop in the interim, but it could suffer as work is spread around among those who are left.

We need to see all of those frames for department heads’ photos at city council chambers filled soon.