Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen

VALDOSTA — A Thomasville business executive, who also happens to be a Georgia legislator and a woman, knows what to do with high-heeled shoes and a glass ceiling.

“Wear stilettos and break it,” Darlene Taylor said.

In her fourth term as the Georgia House District 173 representative, Taylor is also the chairman of the board of Taylor Benefit Resource, a Thomasville health care benefit management business she founded. 

Taylor said when she arrived in Thomasville 38 years ago, she was determined to prove herself.

“I don’t think of myself as a businesswoman,” she said. “I think of myself as a businessperson.”

Taylor said she never noticed a glass ceiling and paid no attention to what might be considered obstacles. 

“I never paid attention to it if it was there,” she said. “I did what I thought I needed to do.”

The glass ceiling refers to an invisible barrier to advancement in a profession, which especially affects women and minorities, regardless of their qualifications or achievements.

Those trapped below the glass ceiling see what’s on the other side but are hemmed in by barriers that have nothing to do with whether they are qualified or can do the jobs of their male counterparts. 

While Taylor said she never noticed a glass ceiling, Tifton County Commissioner Melissa Hughes considers it to be real and ever present.

“I think there is still a barrier,” she said.

During the campaign, she heard some negative things from men who still hold onto the mindset “that women have a place and government leadership is not one of them.”

Hughes said her biggest supporters have always been women.

After she won her County Commission seat, she said she noticed the disparity between the number of women in positions of leadership on national, state and local levels.

“I think society still has us as being clerks, secretaries, pencil pushers. They don’t see us as being top role models,” she said.

She does think it is getting better but the Deep South is lagging behind the rest of the country when it comes to accepting women in leadership roles.

“If we voice our opinion, they think we’re nagging, being wimpy or getting in our feelings,” she said. “But a man can ask that same question and they’ll receive it differently. I wish men would understand that we just want that same respect.”

The SunLight Project team in the coverage areas of Valdosta, Dalton, Thomasville, Milledgeville, Tifton and Moultrie, Ga., and Live Oak, Jasper and Mayo, Fla., peered through the glass ceiling and talked to women who’ve fought through it in the region.

City Governments

City councils, generally speaking, tend to have as many females serving as males. The department heads vary, but few have no women serving.

For example, three of the six seats on Milledgeville City Council are held by women, and the Milledgeville Zoning Administrator/H.R. Director Mervin Graham and Milledgeville Main Street/Downtown Development Authority Director Carlee Schulte make up two of the eight department heads employed by the city.

In neighboring Putnam County, women head four of 15 city departments and two of the seven Eatonton City Council positions.

The Tifton City Council has no women serving, and four out of 14 department heads are female.

The first female City Council representative was Marianna Keesee, who was only elected in 2005 and served until 2013.

Tifton can also boast its first female mayor, Julie Smith.

Smith said while it was never her goal to enter into public service, after she was asked to run and won a seat on the City Council, it “lit a fire” to continue to work in the public sector.

Smith said she was surprised by some people’s response when she knocked on doors during her campaigns.

“Everybody was very receptive and very nice, but I actually had a couple of people say, ‘I appreciate that you’re doing this and I wish I could support you, but I just don’t feel like a woman needs to be in that job.’ And that really caught me off guard,” she said.

“You always hear the story about the good ol’ boys, that political network and I do think there is still a lot of that, unfortunately. In the South, it’s hard to break into those conversations.”

Smith said she feels many women don’t entertain the thought of holding public office because they don’t want to be exposed to that level of scrutiny.

“You do have to have thick skin,” she said.

Smith said she has been called a queen and that the rest of the City Council is her court, the kind of thing she feels would not have been said about a male mayor.

She also recalled the use of a certain derogatory term normally aimed at females.

On the flip side, she said she does receive a lot of positive comments about being a female mayor.

“Do men and women look at things differently? I think we do. Does that make one more right or more wrong than the other? I don’t think it does.

“At the end of the day as long as you’re honest, your focus is on the community and not on your own agenda, you’re trying to do what’s best for the greater good and not just your own pet project or group, then it doesn’t matter if you’re male or female.”

Smith said from a state standpoint, she feels the number of male and female mayors is fairly balanced, but for this region, there are far fewer females than males.

Cairo City Manager Chris Addleton said out of the city’s 11 staff members, five are female — city clerk, finance director, human resources director, communications director and customer service/utility office director.

No women serve on Cairo City Council.

The Valdosta City Council has two female councilwomen, District 2 Councilwoman Sandra Tooley and District 1 Councilwoman Vivian Miller-Cody, out of its total of seven council members. Teresa S. Bolden is the Valdosta city clerk.

The City of Valdosta has one female department head out of eight departments.

The Berlin City Council has three women serving out of five elected positions.

Doerun, Ellenton, Norman Park and Camilla each have two women serving on five-person councils.

Funston’s city council has no women currently serving, while Moultrie’s city council boasts four women out of six holding elected positions.

Of the 10 direct report department heads who work for the City of Thomasville, four are female.

“Of that group, women hold three of the top five highest paid positions,” said Steve Sykes, city manager/utilities superintendent.

Thomasville City Council has no female members, but it has in the past, including a woman mayor.

In Dalton, Denise Wood said growing up with four brothers may have helped prepare her to be the first and so far only woman on the Dalton City Council.

Wood was first elected 10 years ago and is now in her third term on the council.

Coming from a science background, she said, also prepared her for being the only woman in a room. She earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Indiana University in 1976.

“In my upper-level chemistry classes, I was often the only woman. Sometimes there may have been one other woman,” she said.

When she first ran for office, she said many people told her if she was elected she would become the first woman on the council.

“I think they were excited about that possibility and thought that it was time,” she said. “But I don’t think that’s why they supported me. I think they supported me because they thought that I would do what’s right for the city and could make an impact. I know that’s why I ran, not to become the first woman on the council.”

Wood said she thinks women are starting to make strides.

“We aren’t there yet. But we are making progress,” she said.

Dalton has two female department heads out of eight total departments.

White Springs Town Manager Stacy Tebo believes there is still a glass ceiling and quoted part of Hillary Clinton’s 2008 concession speech for the Democratic nomination for President.

“I believe a glass ceiling still exists,” Tebo said. “In my lifetime I have witnessed changes in terms of equality, but we aren’t there yet; these things don’t happen overnight.”

Tebo agrees there is equal opportunity for women, but it’s still not shown when looking at the percentage of women in Congress.

“There is equal opportunity for women, but I think it has evolved more slowly for those in elected positions than it has for women in appointed positions,” Tebo said. “It’s evident when you look at the percentage of men in Congress versus the percentage of women.”

County Governments

County governments seem to be lagging a bit when compared to cities.

Only one of five seats on the Baldwin County Commission is held by a woman, and out of 23 Baldwin County departments that currently have heads, five are women, including County Clerk Cindy Cunningham, Solicitor General Maxine Blackwell, Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Staff Attorney Amy Michaud, Tax Commissioner Cathy Settle and Chief Registrar Elizabeth Rodgers.

Although not considered an official department head, County Finance Director Dawn Hudson is perhaps the most important woman in the county government behind Commissioner Emily Davis.

“Whenever you have all men as colleagues, there are always obstacles in being a woman,” Davis said. “A lot of people are from that era where it had to been as far as department heads and those kinds of things, and they think men should do certain things. It’s nothing that’s necessarily bad, but that’s the area that they come from and you can’t really change that.

“I think we have to really work hard to prove to people that we can accomplish things and that we can make a difference,” said Davis on how women can increase their standing in local government. “If my fellow commissioners see that I’m working hard and trying to make a difference, maybe they will consider more women (for these jobs).”

In neighboring Putnam County, women head nine of 19 county departments and none of the county’s four commission districts.

Thomas County Commission has no women on its board, but has in the past, including a female chairman.

Thomas County government did not respond to a request for information about women in administrative or department head posts.

In Grady County, 19 employees are in charge of a department or office. Of those, nine are women. Grady County has three female constitutional officers — tax commissioner, clerk of court and probate judge. A female superior court judge serves in the South Georgia Judicial Circuit which includes Grady County.

The Grady County Commission has one woman, who is serving as 2017 chairman.

Neither the Colquitt County Commission nor the Mitchell County Commission have any women serving in an elected capacity.

While the Suwannee County Board of Commissioners has no women serving, there are two women serving in elected positions: Sharon Jordan as tax collector and Glenda Williams as supervisor of elections.

Additionally there is one female department head and a female custodial crew leader for Suwannee County.

Lowndes County has six female elected officials: Clerk of Superior, State and Juvenile Courts Beth Green; State Court Judge Ellen Golden; Chief Magistrate Judge Joni Parker; Magistrate Judge Beth Cleveland; Probate Judge Detria Carter Powell; and Lowndes County District 1 Commissioner Joyce E. Evans.

There are five female Lowndes County department heads under the Lowndes County Commission. They include Public Works Director Robin Cumbus, Animal Services Director Linda Patelski, County Clerk Paige Dukes, Zoning Administrator Carmella Braswell and Finance Director Stephanie Black. 

When Lynn Laughter was elected chairman of the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners in 2016, she became the first woman elected to the post. She’s only the second woman to serve on the commission. She was first elected to a commission seat in 2012.

“When I campaigned the first time for District 4, I went to all of the fire stations,” Laughter said. “At one of them, one of the firefighters asked me, ‘Lynn, do you think you can stand up to all those male commissioners?’ My husband was with me, and before I could answer the question, he said, ‘Oh, yeah.’

“I do think there are people who don’t think a woman should hold this position, so I think (my gender) hurt me in some ways. But I also think there are people in this community who know a woman can do this job and who supported me, and I think that helped me.

“I don’t think we are there yet. I’m a member of the Rotary Club, and I have a son who lives in Austria. The last time I was in Austria, I went to a Rotary Club meeting in Vienna. I introduced myself and told them I was a certified financial planner and that I was the first female chairman ever of the commission in my county. And a woman asked me, ‘Lynn, why are you the first female?’ She did not understand. I think a lot of countries around the world are well ahead of us in electing women.”

In the last two election cycles, just two other women have run for seats on the County Commission. 

“I don’t know why more women don’t run for office. There are many who work full time but still maintain the major responsibilities for the home. Perhaps that is an issue,” she said. 

Katherine Allen has been with the UF/IFAS Extension Office for 23 years. She is currently the executive director for the Suwannee County office.

Allen said in the beginning of her career, her eyes were opened to the differences when she was working on a project with another department head who was male. In an effort to continue working, Allen suggested having a working lunch. The male colleague declined the offer and said he could not go to lunch by himself with her because she was a single female. 

Allen said women have to continuously prove themselves and know their information. 

“I think you get asked more questions or challenged more on your information than a male counterpart,” Allen said. 

Allen said women in leadership positions have to always make sure they are looking at fairness, where men maybe wouldn’t be scrutinized for policies and procedures.

She said whereas a male boss that is considered tough may be called strict, a tough female boss will be called derogatory terms.

Allen said she believes inequality still happens, but in her experience at the extension office, it has gotten better. 

Allen suggested creating a woman leader network or support system. 

“They always talk about the good ole boys, well why can’t we have the good ole girl club?” Allen said.

Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners has Beth Burnam.

When talking about obstacles with her career, Burnam said, “None, as far as treatment is concerned. When it comes to the machinery, like the road machines and truck equipment, I have had my own learning curve.”

Burnam explained when it came to the learning curve, she asked her fellow board members and staff to clarify the types of machinery and equipment needed.

Burnam said she does not believe a glass ceiling exists.

“No. I am a firm believer that women can do anything if they are well prepared, (have) good communication skills, are assertive and have good people skills,” she said. “Never have I had a job where being a woman hindered me.”

Burnam is a firm believer that woman have as much of an opportunity as men do when it comes to working in local government.

“Yes, women should realize that if they are well prepared, set a learning curve, learn to sell yourself and prove they can learn and work hard then they can do anything,” Burnam said.

Police Department/Sheriff’s Office

Law enforcement has seen a slow rate of women in leadership positions, but the growth is there.

The Tifton Police Department has one female sergeant in the Criminal Investigations Division and two out of the five lieutenants are female.

The Tift County Sheriff’s Office doesn’t have any women in leadership roles, but Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office Major Lynnette LaRocque, who heads up the county’s Investigations, Jails, 911 Services and Administration, is the highest-ranking woman and one of five officers in the county to hold the rank of major.

For the Valdosta Police Department, several women hold leadership roles. 

They include Cmdr. Bobbi McGraw, Support Services; Cmdr. Leslie Manahan, Investigative Services; (civilian) Crime Lab Director Becky Parker-Hall; Capt. Kari Williams, Professional Standards; Capt. Pat McGriff, Patrol Services; Sgt. Sabrina Smith, burglary; Sgt. Holly Vickers, patrol; and Sgt. Heather Willis, patrol. 

Lt. Adam Bembry said the pay scale for these individuals is based on education and years of experience.

Valdosta Police Chief Brian Childress said women make up 28 percent of the entire department.

With nine female supervisors, three of whom are the equal of deputy chiefs, 11 female officers, seven female detectives and 20 female civilian workers, there is a total of 47 female employees at the VPD. 

Colquitt County E-911 Director Teresa Warburg thinks there may be something to the glass ceiling, but her hard work and dedication has paid off.

Warburg was hired as a shift supervisor when the Colquitt County E-911 Center went into operation nearly 20 years ago.

After the departure of her predecessor in 2005, Warburg was picked as interim director in September 2005 and later named the permanent head of the department.

Warburg, who oversees a staff of 20, and Colquitt County Clerk Melissa Lawson are the two females among the county’s 10 department heads. Their salaries are roughly in the middle of the pack among them. 

“Yes, I do believe it exists,” said Warburg, who was training coordinator at the time of her promotion. “(It was) being able to prove myself, basically. I always enjoyed a challenge.”

She didn’t set out with the goal of making it to the top, but thinks it was her upbringing to work hard. 

“That’s just my personality,” she said. “I was raised to do that — find a way to figure it out. I started to figure things out.”

Some jobs have traditionally been male-dominated, such as maintenance shop, for example. There does not seem to be any hindrance to women making it to the top ranks in emergency call centers, however.

And Warburg said that in certain areas it is not unusual to see women playing leadership roles.

“In the field I’m in, 911, you see probably more females than males,” Warburg said. “We have a more calming nature about us. We don’t stress out like men.”

Working in an environment where they sometimes are sending police officers, paramedics and firefighters to life-and-death situations can be stressful for employees, she said. 

“It’s both stressful and rewarding,” she said of working calls. “The moment can be stressful. At the end of the day it is rewarding that all your officers are going home (safe).”

Boards of Education 

School boards seem to be more egalitarian than other branches of local leadership.

The Tift County Board of Education currently has three women serving on the seven-person board: Marilyn Burks (District 1), Marian Richbourg (District 5) and Melanie Roberson (District 6).

While the current chairperson is male, he replaced a female chairperson.

There are six females out of 15 directors or supervisors and eight female principals out of 13.

Women represent three of the six positions on the Baldwin County Board of Education, including School Superintendent Dr. Noris Price.

The Baldwin County Board of Education also has five of the 12 department heads being female, with Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Sharon Hunt-Simmons, Director of Purchasing and Human Resources Judi Battle, School Nutrition Director Susan Nelson, School Social Worker Ola Scott-Little and Special Education Director Traci White.

In neighboring Putnam County, women head three of seven school system administration positions and three of the five school board positions.

Two women serve on the Thomas County Board of Education, including the current chairman.

The Thomasville City School System employs two women principals and three males, five female administrators and three males.

The pay scale is gender-neutral, Thomasville Schools Superintendent Dr. Laine Reichert said, adding the system works hard to obtain administrative and coaching supplements that are consistent with each other.

Two women serve on the Grady County Board of Education. A woman chaired the board in 2016.

For the Lowndes County Board of Education, there are no female members at this time. However, the Valdosta Board of Education has four female members, including Chair Kelly Wilson. 

Wilson said growing up, she never experienced bias against her on the basis of gender.

“I just never remember anybody ever saying ‘no because you’re a woman,’ or even insinuating it,” Wilson said. 

She accounted much of this lack of sexism to the work of her mother’s generation.

“I’m hopeful that it’s because my mother’s generation did start to branch out and did start to pursue things that were not options before, and so when they had daughters it was understood that you could,” Wilson said. 

She also said school boards attract more women, mentioning history as evidence.

Women entered into politics through school boards, and in the late 1800s, women were running for and serving on the school board before they were even given the right to vote. 

According to the National School Board Association, more so than many other elected bodies, school board members are representative of the areas they serve. 

“Boards include women (44 percent are female) at more than twice the rate of the U.S. House of Representatives (about 17 percent) and the U.S. Senate (about 20 percent),” according to the NSBA website. 

Reichert has served as Thomasville City School System superintendent since June. She has had a different experience.

She said while she doesn’t think there is an overall glass ceiling in education, it is harder for a woman to earn a superintendent position than a man.

“Most boards are predominantly male,” Reichert said, adding it is more difficult for a male school board to communicate with a female superintendent. On the other hand, most teachers are female, who find it easier to communicate with a female superintendent, Reichert said.

The Thomasville city school board is made up of three females and four males.

The Pay Gap

Pay and benefits between male and female government personnel vary from county to county.

Lowndes County Clerk Paige Dukes elaborated on the pay for female Lowndes County employees.

“Most local governments adhere to a pay plan/merit system/pay scale, that is approved by an elected body,” Dukes said. “Positions are assigned a pay value, and that value is the same for anyone who is hired for the position.” 

Dukes explained Georgia’s law on pay. 

“Since Georgia is an at-will state, Lowndes County is an at-will employer,” Dukes said. “This being the case, employees do not have contracts like you might see in the private sector. To do so, can be considered a breach of at-will status. Those hiring to fill positions have to work with the salary that is offered, as assigned by the pay scale. There isn’t an allowance for salaries to be negotiated.”

Dukes explained why a pay difference may occur. 

“In local governments, one employee making more than the other in the same position is more likely to be due to longevity or a merit increase, not because of gender,” she said.

This does seem to hold true for most of the counties surveyed.

In Baldwin County, city and county department heads are paid differently based on their job titles. Their salaries are initially set by male managers — County Manager Ralph McMullen and City Manager Barry Jarrett — and approved by legislative bodies that have equal gender representation or are male dominated.

“Each (department head) has different pay grades, and the county manager and the human resources department are the ones that divvy up the pay, but we don’t have a lot of women doing these jobs,” Baldwin County Commissioner Emily Davis said of women’s employment status compared to that of men in the county government. “I don’t think we always have equal opportunity or equal pay. When it comes to (county) jobs, sometimes women are paid less or given last benefits. Where you may pay a woman the same, you may not provide her a vehicle.”

In Valdosta, the annual pay for elected officials is determined by position, which was adopted by the mayor and council in 2016.

The mayor will make $25,000, the mayor pro tem will make $16,500 and city council members will make $15,500, regardless of the gender of the office holder.

Likewise, in the city’s job classification system, a male and a female who hold the same job will also earn the same salary since city jobs are classified with a pay range.

However, in Colquitt County, there are two elected department heads, Tax Commissioner Cindy Harvin and Superior Court Clerk and Clerk of Court Lynn Purvis, who, as constitutional officers, have their salaries set by the state.

Boards of Education work similarly.

The Thomas County School System has 12 women department heads.

“All employees are paid based on salary schedules with pay dependent upon years of experience, certification level and position,” Superintendent Dr. Dusty Kornegay said.

“The last year for which audited salaries are available reflects that five of the highest 10 paid employees in the district were women. Gender is not a consideration in employee salaries,” the superintendent said.

Grady County Administrator Carlos Tobar said female constitutional officers’ salaries are set by a state formula. Salaries of the female appointed tax assessors, chief registrar and accountability court coordinator are recommended by the tax assessors board or a superior court judge.

Female department heads’ pay is set by county commissioners.

The Grady County School System employs 18 females as school principals, assistant principals, an assistant superintendent and department directors.

“Educators’ base salary depends on the degree they hold,” said Grady County Schools Superintendent Dr. Kermit Gilliard. “Grady County also pays a supplement for teachers based on experience, and administrators based on positions. Therefore, gender does not determine pay, degree does.

“Elementary school principal supplements are the same. Assistant principal supplements are the same per grade span. Directors’ supplements are based on responsibility. All principals are on a 12-month contract. Some directors have 12-month contracts, but not all directors.” 

The SunLight Project team of journalists who contributed to this report includes Kimberly Cannon, Desiree Carver, Patti Dozier, Alan Mauldin, Charles Oliver, Thomas Lynn, Will Woolever, Jessie Box, Jordan Barela and team leader Eve Guevara. The SunLight Project is directed and edited by Jim Zachary and Dean Poling. 

To contact the team, email sunlightproject@gaflnews.com.