Mike Goens & Sheryl Marks

Mike Goens is a managing editor at the TimesDaily. Yesterday he wrote an article on the appointment of Florence attorney William Smith as the new Lauderdale County License Commissioner. Goens specifically mentioned "over 20" individuals applied to succeed retiring Mickey Haddock, but named only one beside Smith--Sheryl Marks.

Marks has 28 years experience in the license office, and Goens obviously implied she should have been Gov. Bentley's appointee. We have to wonder why Goens singled Marks out.

What of the other 19 plus applicants? Were none of them even close to Marks in their professional abilities. Perhaps Marks is a friend of Goens...or perhaps she has indicated she intends to protest Smith's appointment in some manner.

Marks' tenure of 28 years is almost unheard of in today's world of job hoppers. Why has she remained so long in the license commissioner's office with little chance of advancement? It would appear Marks is a graduate of Central High School, but online profiles list no post-secondary education. Assuming her age is listed correctly at 46, Marks would have begun work at the license office just out of high school. If Marks truly wanted to advance, wouldn't she have made some attempt to further her studies? There can be little doubt that Smith looked much better on paper than Marks.

Gone are the days that a high school diploma will get anyone anywhere except into some colleges; however, also gone are the days when anyone, male or female, needs to relegate themselves to a job with no chance of advancement. We have no doubt that Ms. Marks will be able, should she choose, to make her mark in another career and be much happier doing it.

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Have you often wondered how the Shoals area stacks up education wise against other areas of Alabama and the U.S.? Here's a recent study by CLRsearch:

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