Former Oxford, Mississippi mayor nominated for TVA board

The White House has nominated a former mayor of Oxford, Miss., to fill the lone vacancy on the 9-member board for the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Richard Howorth, who served as Oxford’s mayor for eight years, is the founder and owner of Square Books, a leading independent bookstore in Oxford.

He will fill the vacancy created when Howard A. Thrailkill, a 71-year-old retired businessman from Huntsville, Ala., completed his term on the TVA board in December. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Howorth will be the only member of the TVA board from Mississippi -- one of seven states served by the federal power utility.

Howorth served two terms as Oxford’s mayor from 2001 to 2009, during which time he was chairman of the authority overseeing the Oxford Electric Department. He also served eight years as a director and officer of the North Mississippi Industrial Development Association, an economic development consortium made up of power association directors and mayors of cities in 29 Mississippi counties in the Tennessee Valley Authority service area. He is a former president and chairman of the board of the American Booksellers Association.

In his announcement of the nomination of Howorth and others for top federal positions, President Obama praised Howorth and the other appointees for their “considerable talents.”

“I am proud to nominate such impressive individuals to these important roles,” Obama said in a statement released by the White House late Thursday.

The Tennessee Valley Authority is governed by a nine-member, part-time board of directors appointed by the President.