House Concurrent Resolution 88

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING DEPUTY STATE PERSONNEL DIRECTOR JOHN L. MULHOLLAND FOR HIS SERVICE TO THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI AND CONGRATULATING HIM UPON HIS RETIREMENT.

WHEREAS, Deputy State Personnel Director John L. Mulholland has faithfully served the State of Mississippi in various capacities of public service for over 20 years, and it is with great appreciation that we recognize his dedication and devotion to the state upon his retirement; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Mulholland attended Columbia College in Columbia, Missouri, where he received a bachelor of arts degree before ultimately graduating from the Certified Public Managers Program and the Stennis Executive Development Institute, in addition to achieving certification at the masters level by the International Personnel Management Association; and

WHEREAS, before his career with the Magnolia State, Mr. Mulholland served as a United States Army Sergeant Major for 26 years of active duty, during which time he received numerous awards and decorations relating to meritorious achievement; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Mulholland started at the Mississippi State Personnel Board in 1989, as Director of Classification and Compensation Division where he directed and supervised the maintenance of the statewide classification system by: assuring proper classification of all state employment positions; developing and maintaining job class specifications, job class series and career ladders; conducting salary survey operations; and developing annual recommendations to the Legislature concerning salary ranges for those job classes under the salary setting authority of the State Personnel Board; and

WHEREAS, from 1991 through 1992, he continued to progress down the road toward becoming Deputy Director of the Mississippi State Personnel Board as Director of Evaluation and Testing Division, a position that made Mr. Mulholland responsible for the administration of the Merit System encompassing a statewide program of recruiting, evaluating, testing and certifying employees on the basis of relative knowledge, skills and abilities; and

WHEREAS, from 1992 through 1994, expanding yet his ever-increasing knowledge of the Mississippi Personnel Board as Director of the Office of Recruitment and Selection, Mr. Mulholland conducted recruiting and counseling operations statewide and was responsible for receiving and screening all employment applications from state employees and applicants; and

WHEREAS, beginning in 1994, as Deputy State Personnel Director for the Mississippi State Personnel Board, Mr. Mulholland was responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the Mississippi Statewide Personnel System and serving as chief executive of the agency in the absence of the State Personnel Director; and

WHEREAS, more specifically, Mr. Mulholland's duties as deputy director included management and technical oversight of the employees in the Office of Recruitment and Selection, the Office of Classification and Compensation, the Office of Training, the Policy Division, the Administration Division and the Information Systems Division, in addition to serving as the administrator for the agency in the operation and maintenance of the Statewide Payroll and Human Resource System (SPAHRS), which combines all human resource and payroll data in a single database; and

WHEREAS, as deputy director, he was also in charge of statewide payroll functionality, including payment for employees and contract workers and reporting time and travel hours; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Mulholland, who also served on the Board of Trustees of the Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi and as Interim State Personnel Director on three occasions during his over 20-year tenure at the Mississippi State Personnel Board, brought about significant changes by using his knowledge gained as an Army Sergeant Major where he developed a unique perspective and philosophy which he brought to our state as reflected in his depth of experience; and

WHEREAS, upon his departure in 2009, Mr. Mulholland left our State Personnel Board and state employment, in general, in an even better position than he had found it, by bringing to attention an awareness of the issues facing our state's personnel dilemmas and then leading his employees in formulating innovative solutions to those problems; and

WHEREAS, it is the policy of this Legislature to honor diligent state employees, such as Mr. Mulholland, whose career serves as an example to all citizens of the State of Mississippi and whose legacy of public service is exemplified by outstanding leadership, dedication and prudent judgment:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby commend the remarkable career of Deputy State Personnel Director John L. Mulholland, congratulate him upon his retirement, express deepest appreciation to him for the hard work and many sacrifices he made to serve the people of our state and extend to him our best wishes for many years of good health and enjoyment in his retirement.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to Mr. Mulholland, to the Mississippi State Personnel Board and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.