Jay Brooks on Tuesday was named Smith County fire marshal. (Courtesy)

The Smith County government’s human resources coordinator has been promoted to human resources director, and a former fire marshal has come back to take the helm.

The moves come as Leonardo Brown, currently the county administrator and human resources director, is scheduled to leave Friday for a job in South Carolina, and after longtime fire marshal Connie McCoy-Wasson retired June 30.

Esmeralda Delmas, who has been in the role of human resources coordinator, will now be the human resources director. In that position, she takes on most other human resources duties formerly performed by Brown.

County Judge Nathaniel Moran told Delmas during Tuesday’s meeting while she was sitting in the audience that picking her was an easy choice. He said she has been training with Brown for many years.

The Smith County Commissioners Court assigned Brown’s responsibilities of risk management coordinator to Christina Haney, and workers compensation coordinator to Jaye Lynn Collins. Haney will receive a pay supplement of $10,000 per year.

Additionally, the Commissioners Court reclassified the county administrator position as solely a human resources director position, essentially eliminating the job of county administrator.

The position’s pay was also reclassified, ranging from $85,000 per year at step 1 to $99,000 per year at step 3. By comparison, Brown was the seventh-highest paid county employee in fiscal year 2018, with total pay of $125,933.

Separately, the Commissioners Court appointed Jay Brooks as the new Smith County fire marshal. He succeeds McCoy-Wasson.

Brooks most recently worked in the private sector, performing information technology roles for M. Chest Pharmacy Group. He earned his Master of Business Administration degree from LeTourneau University in Longview.

Brooks became a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician in 2001 and served with the Lindale Volunteer Fire Department. From 2008 to 2015, he was the assistant county fire marshal, and then briefly served as the county fire marshal.

Brooks was selected from a pool of three finalists who interviewed with the Commissioners Court during an executive session. He begins July 29.

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