Board employs Hightower as new recorder/treasurer – Collierville Independent

The Oakland Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted unanimously last week to employ Tammie Hightower as the town’s new recorder/treasurer.
Board members took the action Thursday night during a special called meeting on a motion offered by Alderman John Troncone and seconded by Alderman Kelly Rector.
Hightower will be sworn in at tomorrow night’s regular board meeting by City Judge Craig Hall. She will replace former recorder/treasurer Pam Walker, who was removed by the board at its Feb. 21 meeting.
Mayor Chris Goodman said Hightower will begin her new job on April 22. In response to a question by Alderman Karl Chambless, he said her starting salary will be determined at an upcoming budget meeting.
Hightower was one of five applicants for the position whose resumes’ were included in the board members’ packets for the meeting.
Noting that he interviewed every person who applied for the position, Troncone said some were not Oakland residents, while others are currently employed by the town.
“We had a lot of people who were qualified,” he said. “Some were over-qualified, some were under-qualified, but I believe the right choice is being made here.”
During an interview after the meeting, Hightower said she grew up in Oakland and lives about a mile north of the town on Highway 194.
“I was actually one of the first students to attend Oakland Elementary School,” she recalled, “and I graduated from Fayette-Ware High School in 1985.”
For 20 years, Hightower worked in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s branch office in Somerville. Then, from 2011-2012, she was employed as Gallaway’s town administrator.
Since obtaining a realtor’s license in 2005, she has worked part-time as an agent with ERA in Oakland.
In November 2012, after completing a two-year program offered by The University of Tennessee’s Municipal Technical Advisory Service, Hightower was issued a license by the State Comptroller’s Office as a certified municipal finance officer.