Kirkland remains lone applicant for County Commissioner

Joey Hale's resignation from the Madison County Commission representing District 3 left an open seat that must be filled.
If things go according to how they typically do, that seat will be filled on Monday during their monthly meeting by Dr. Ron Kirkland.
Kirkland is one of three residents of District 3 who applied to be considered for appointment to that position.
By the time applicants were set to appear before the Commission's Republican caucus on Oct. 14, the other two applicants had let Commission Chair Mike Taylor know they were no longer interested in the position.
Since there is only one applicant for the job, the Commission will vote "yes" or "no" to appoint Kirkland to the position. Technically, that's how it would've been done if there were multiple applicants, but this will speed the process up by going ahead and narrowing it to one vote.
Kirkland's resume is lengthy starting with his graduation from Union City High School in 1962.
His college education included three years at Tennessee Knoxville and two more years at UT Martin. In 1968 military service intervened and Kirkland spent almost three years in the U.S. Army including nearly a year as a counterintelligence agent in Vietnam. That was followed by brief work in the business world, then graduate school at UTM in education, Vanderbilt graduate school in molecular biology, then graduating from UT Center for Health Sciences with his medical degree. Two years of general surgery at Carraway Methodist Medical Center in Birmingham, Ala. Were followed by three years as a resident in otolaryngology/head and neck surgery (ENT). Years later he returned to Tennessee's Haslam College of Business graduating with his MBA in 2010 at the age of 66.
The bulk of his medical career was at The Jackson Clinic from 1984-2015 after practicing mainly at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis for two years. Following his departure from The Jackson Clinic in 2015 he performed consulting and evaluation work until he fully retired earlier this year.
His accolades include the distinguished service award in medical school, several areas of service at the University School of Jackson, an AAU leadership award, the Chancellor's Award for University Service at UTM, Chairman of the Board of the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) and AMGA Foundation, AMGA Foundation Legacy Award, Outstanding Alumnus  award at UT College of Medicine, President of the UT National Alumni Association, and Rotarian of the Year in 2019.
He's a member of a number of medical organizations, Sons of the American Revolution, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and American College of Physician Executives.
His local service includes almost four decades with Jackson Rotary Club that includes two stints on the Board of Directors and one year as club president, Chairman of Deacon at First Baptist Church, Chamber of Commerce Board Directors for three years, various board for the University of Tennessee and UT Martin, and a number of state-level medical boards and committees including President of the Tennessee Medical Association.
His advocacy work in Nashville meeting with government officials has garnered him some familiarity with law-makers that when they come to Jackson to speak with a civic group or another organization, if Kirkland is in the room, there's usually some kind of public greeting for him.
He has similar connections in the University of Tennessee system as well.
There have been times in recent years when a connection in Nashville with a Commissioner or someone else might've come in handy for Madison County.
If he's appointed to the Commission, they have at least two years to use those connections if they so choose.

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news