Sykes' wife says she's willing to serve in husband's place until election

By By Lynette Wilson / staff writer
July 23, 2002
The wife of former Lauderdale County Supervisor Q.V. Sykes said Monday she would be willing to serve in his place until a November election permanently fills her late husband's job.
Supervisors are expected to appoint a temporary replacement for Sykes at a 9 a.m. meeting Wednesday. Sykes was serving his second term when he died of lung cancer July 14.
Laura Sykes said, however, that she has no political ambitions beyond filling the District 4 post for a few months and will not run for the position in November.
Lauderdale County Supervisor Ray Boswell, who represents District 5, declined to comment Monday about Q.V. Sykes' temporary replacement.
Supervisor Craig Hitt of District 3 was out of town and could not be reached. Supervisors Hank Florey of District 1 and Jimmie Smith of District 2 did not return phone calls.
Lauderdale County Administrator Rex Hiatt said that supervisors have "received calls from a number of constituents making recommendations."
Besides Laura Sykes, another possibility for the job is county resident Joe Norwood a WTOK-TV cameraman who lost to Sykes by 11 votes in the August 1999 Democratic Primary.
Sykes received 537 votes while Norwood got 526.
Norwood, though, said he'd rather not be appointed to the temporary job.
County redistricting almost removed Norwood from District 4 earlier this year. At the time, Sykes had planned to run for re-election in 2003 and Norwood planned to challenge him again.