County commission voting on new District 1 member

Polk County Commissioners have waited a month, heard from candidates during an hour-long question and answer session, and now they were ready to vote on a new member to join the board as the week got underway.

September’s regular session was being held on Tuesday after press time — assuming weather issues with Hurricane Irma’s remnants coming ashore and into Northwest Georgia hadn’t called off the meeting afterward.

Commissioners were looking to fill the District 1 commission seat in the Cedartown area during the Sept. 12 meeting, weather permitting.

They met the night previous for their work session after voting in August to push back this month’s meetings a week for the Labor Day holiday.

Eight different candidates have sought the job for the new county commission seat which included former District Attorney Bobby Brooks, local businessmen Dewain Campbell and Jose Iglesias, former commissioner Cleve Hartley, former city commissioner and school board member Gary Martin, former assistant county manager David McElwee, retiree Harland Moody and car salesman Carson Tanner.

Commission chair Marshelle Thaxton said he didn’t wish to vote on any candidate to fill the District 1 seat if that candidate didn’t have the full support of the board to avoid any embarrassment for any individual brought up before the 60-day deadline.

Because of the paper’s deadline, news of who the commission picked wasn’t available before press time over the weekend.

That information will be available late Tuesday at Polkstandardjournal. com.

Filling the seat was among the last items on the agenda for September as the commission sought to vote and complete work on a number of items before the county needing approval for the month.

Commissioners sought to write off a large amount of uncollectable property tax for 2017, make requests from the state for help with roadwork on Cherokee Road and Marquette Road, several requests for spending from the Public Works department, seeking approval for accepting a grant from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources for a Silver Comet Trail grant, and purchase of computing equipment for the county sheriff’s office and the county administration.

The board also took time out to honor the service of Commissioner Stefanie Drake Burford following her resignation from the District 3 seat at the end of August.

The clock is ticking for the commission to fill her seat, and already candidates are up for the job. So far, the list of candidates from the Rockmart and eastern Polk County area to fill the seat include former Aragon mayor Ken Suffridge, former commissioner Larry Reynolds, Edwin Britt, former school board member Hal Floyd, and Tim Yarbrough. The process for applying for that seat remains open, according to County Manager Matt Denton.

He said those interested need to contact him or the commission chair to apply, and that the commission plans to follow the same process as the District 1 seat, giving people ample opportunity to apply and then hold a question and answer session for members of the public and the board.

Board members also met on Monday for their monthly work session to hear from the public and discuss upcoming business.