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By LEAH INGRAM EAGLE | Special to the Reporter

Jesslan Wilson and Brian Wheeler both started new jobs with Shelby County on May 6 and have spent the last three months meeting other county employees and taking on their respective roles.

Wilson was named Deputy County Manager, a new position that was created to direct, manage, administer and develop strategy associated policies or practices for Tourism (DiscoverShelby), Community Services, Grants Management departments and Economic Development Initiatives in coordination with county partners.

Wilson’s prior role was with the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham, where she worked for six years and was most recently the director of economic development.

“I focused on equipping and enhancing local capacity to equip local communities in six county regions to participate in economic development,” Wilson said. “I connected communities with grant funding, grant writing and research and managed those for local communities.”

She said when the position became available, she read the job description and said it sounded like a dream.

“My dad is a county administrator in DeKalb County,” Wilson said. “I’ve always grown up around county government and enjoyed working with the local communities in my other job. This position came available and sounded perfect.”

Wilson said she didn’t know what to expect, but so far, the job has surpassed any expectations she had.

“In my previous role, I got to work with a few of the communities in the county, but here it’s just the biggest thing seeing behind the curtain of all the different operations that go on,” she said. “Everything the county does is interconnected. That really stood out how all the staff and departments are very mission-oriented and are enhancing the quality of life of residents. It’s been electric and contagious.”

Wilson said that it’s incredible what she has been able to learn in her first three months, and said she’s only scratched the surface.

“Every day can look completely different,” she said. I have the standard things I am in charge of. My role is to support those three departments, but also support Chad (Scroggins, county manager) with his things and any other departments.

Wilson and her husband moved from Trussville and bought a house in a community off Highway 119 in North Shelby County.

Wheeler, who was named the county’s next CFO, grew up in the Birmingham area. He recently finished his 20th year handling public accounts for the State Examiners Office, specifically auditing in the county audit division.

“That’s how I became familiar with Shelby County,” he said.

He had lived in Baldwin County since 2012 and also recently moved into a community in North Shelby on Highway 119.

“I found out the job was open and was already familiar with Shelby County from my auditing experience,” Wheeler said. “I had worked with Cheryl (Naugher, Shelby County CFO) before. I was fortunate enough to get the job and thought it would be good to learn the day to day operations of the county as opposed to the other (auditing) side.”

Wheeler will now work closely with Naugher and take over her position when she retires in April 2025. He came in just in time for preparation of the next year’s county budget, which he said has been very interesting to see.

“I like seeing Cheryl’s thought process and everyone’s process toward the budget in making good conservative decisions,” he said. “I plan to continue doing that. Being good stewards of the resources will be my focus. Once we are through the budget time, there will be more opportunities to get out and learn more of the inner workings of the county.”

Naugher shared that she believes it is very beneficial for the Commission to allow the incoming CFO to go through one budget cycle with her.

“The current budget is $150 million and has governmental as well as proprietary funds (Water System & Environmental/Landfill),” Naugher said. “This should ensure a smooth transition with my upcoming retirement.”

Both Wilson and Wheeler agree that the people across all the departments of the county are great and are making a difference.

“We figured that out quickly,” Wheeler said. “I’ve seen a lot of different counties, and Shelby to me stands out because of what it has to offer the residents, and the leadership of the county has been tremendous.”

Both Wilson and Wheeler said they love the outdoors and are looking forward to all the parks and trails that Shelby County has to offer. Wilson said she’s already gotten an annual pass for Oak Mountain State Park.

The two said they’ve had a great time working together so far and enjoy talking about new ideas with a fresh look at things.

“It’s nice to come in with someone new embarking on this journey together,” Wilson said. It’s good to bounce questions and ideas off each other and helpful to learn when you can process it with someone,” Wilson said.

“I think this is a very important job and am very proud to have gotten the position,” Wheeler said. “I plan to work extra hard to learn everything I can.”