The Mobile County Commission on Thursday named two veteran employees to lead its restructured engineering and public works operations, filling roles left open after the 2016 retirement of longtime County Engineer Joe Rufer.
Commissioners voted during a conference meeting to appoint Bryan Kegley as county engineer and Ricky Mitchell as public works director and chief engineer of the division of public roads. The move caps an 18-month search and a reorganization of the department that began after a 2017 outside evaluation, commissioned for about $30,000, concluded the engineer position held too much direct control over a wide range of county functions.
Following the consultant’s recommendation, the commission divided duties that had previously rested with the county engineer alone and created the public works director post. Some functions, including parks and recreation and environmental services, were moved out of the department entirely and placed under county administration, eliminating what the firm described as duplicative internal operations.
Under the new structure, Kegley supervises road projects while Mitchell oversees building maintenance and equipment services, with each taking on additional responsibilities beyond those primary roles. Both were selected from a field of applicants after public interviews in March.
Kegley, a Baker High School and University of South Alabama graduate, has served as the county’s assistant engineer since August 2011 and is a licensed professional engineer and land surveyor. Mitchell has been deputy public works director since 2011 and is a graduate of Pinson Valley High School and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, also a licensed professional engineer.
The two have effectively run engineering functions since Rufer’s retirement and now oversee a department that typically accounts for roughly 30 percent of the county’s multi-million-dollar budget. In a statement announcing the hires, Commission President Connie Hudson credited the pair’s leadership through the 18-month transition. “Mr. Kegley and Mr. Mitchell have stepped up and led their respective departments well over the past 18 months,” she said. “We look forward to their continued service and dedication to the citizens of Mobile County.”