Over 100 family members, friends, and co-workers of longtime Monroe County building inspector Mark Goolsby celebrated alongside him on Thursday as his final day of work after 18 years with Monroe County was commemorated with a barbecue luncheon at the Monroe County Conference Center.
Goolsby was hired as the county’s building inspector in 2005 after his friend and former Georgia Power co-worker Bentley Cox urged him to join the county’s fledgling building inspection department. When Monroe County Commissioners decided several years ago to contract its building inspection department out to a private company, Goolsby shifted into an assistant code enforcement and assistant zoning officer role that he maintained until his official retirement on Thursday.
The Goolsby family has a long, distinguished history in the Monroe County government. Goolsby’s father, Brack, served as the county’s road superintendent for more than three decades. In fact, Goolsby brought his father’s handwritten scheduling tablet from 1994 to his retirement luncheon. Goolsby said his father’s influence played a significant role in how he conducted himself as building inspector.
“He (Brack Goolsby) was always a people person,” Goolsby said. “That’s what I tried to be. I tried to treat everybody the same whether you had money or had no money. I didn’t show any favoritism.”
Goolsby said he never imagined when he started with Monroe County that he’d still be here 18 years later, but he said it’s overall been a great experience. He said his favorite memories have come after natural disasters, like hurricanes, when he’s been able to help families get their power restored.
“I’ve met so many people, contractors and people that build houses,” Goolsby said. “I have people come up to me now and say, ‘Hey Mr. Mark, how are you doing?’ I look at my wife and say, ‘Who is that?’ I have no idea, but it’s somebody I’ve inspected for. It’s been a great experience. I’ve met a lot of folks.”
Among Goolsby’s closest friends are his current and former officemates, Kelsey Fortner, Ariyl Fuentes, Stephanie Norton, and Emily Parks. He said one of his most memorable moments came last year when several First Amendment auditors came into the Community Development Department office with cameras and acted aggressively toward the staffers there. Goolsby stepped out of his office to defend his co-workers and unintentionally became a brief YouTube sensation by brushing aside a cell phone camera in his face while telling the auditors, ‘You’re in my no fly zone.” Goolsby said despite the unwanted publicity, he was proud when his co-workers told him he stood up for them and didn’t let the auditors bully them around.
Fortner said it’s Goolsby’s friendship and loyalty that are most memorable about working with him.
“I’ve worked with him for 14 years, closely for five,” Fortner told the assembled crowd at Goolsby’s retirement luncheon. “I would say that I have never worked with anybody as loyal and has turned out to be one of my best friends as Mark Goolsby. If you call Mark and say, ‘Hey, I need you,’ you don’t even really have to say the address. Somehow telepathically he knows where to go. . . He’s a wonderful, hard-working, loyal person and has been a wonderful asset to Monroe County. I wish him the best, and I truly hate to see him go.”
Goolsby won’t have trouble finding things to do in his retirement. In addition to his county job, Goolsby has worked for many years as a funeral home attendant for Monroe County Memorial Chapel and also serves as a Pentecostal minister, being heavily involved with his church, New Beginnings Pentecostal Church, as well as officiating weddings and funerals.
Goolsby stirred up laughter at Thursday’s party when he said: “I married some of you here. I checked one a while ago and said, ‘Are you still married?’ He said, ‘Yes.” Of course, that hadn’t been but two weeks ago.”
Goolsby also said his wife of 44 years, Wanda, already has an extensive honey-do list for him at home, and he has plenty of activities ahead to participate in with his four daughters, Amanda, Ashly, Andrea, and Amber, and his many grandchildren and upcoming great-grandchild.
One thing is for certain in retirement, Goolsby said, he’s not leaving his native Juliette, where he has spent his entire life.
“I’ll be here the rest of my life,” Goolsby said of Monroe County. “I used to know everybody, but since the growth spurt, there’s a lot of folks I don’t know. . . But the county as far as it being family-oriented, it hasn’t changed.”
