The Waycross City Commission will operate as a four-person body for the majority of 2025 after deciding last week to hold a special election in November to fill the vacant District 4 seat.
Commissioners voted 3-1 Tuesday, February 18 in favor of November 4 to elect a successor to the late Diane Hopkins. The winner of the special election will hold the District 4 seat until December 31, 2027.
The action at the commission’s bimonthly meeting in City Hall came after it chose not to act on a resolution on the meeting’s agenda to stage the special election June 17.
Commissioners Shawn Roberts, Sheinita Bennett and Alvin Nelson voted for the November date while Katrena Felder was against. That vote came after the item for the earlier date was reached on the agenda.
During the call for discussion on the June 17 resolution, Bennett asked to make a motion for the vote on November 4. That, however, wasn’t available with the June 17 resolution on the floor.
“If you don’t go forward with this resolution, it opens the floor for others,” Interim City Attorney Huey Spearman said.
Mayor Michael-Angelo James called for a motion to vote on that resolution, but none came. Nelson then reminded that since there was no consensus on an election date among he, Bennett and Roberts at Monday’s planning and information session, it was decided discussion would continue Tuesday followed by a possible vote.
Nelson favored the June date Monday while his colleagues backed November. Felder was absent from the work session.
Despite no consensus Monday, but the prospect of more discussion, City Manager Ulysses “Duke” Rayford requested the resolution be on Tuesday’s agenda. It was written with the June date.
After Nelson’s reminder, Bennett asked to make a motion for November and Roberts provided the second. In a voice vote by districts, Felder was the lone dissent.
Had the four been split 2-2, the deciding vote would’ve fallen to Mayor James.
The June date had been recommended by the Ware County Board of Elections and Registration, which conducts elections for the city. Supervisor of Elections Carlos Nelson presented the three dates for a special election — June 17, September 16, November 4 — available to the commission at the work session and again Tuesday along with pros and cons for each.
Citizen input on the matter at both meetings favored a June vote in order for the district’s citizens to have representation on the commission as soon as possible.
“With everything going on in the city we need to have a full house of five people (as soon as possible) to make the decisions,” citizen Tim Peacock said at Tuesday’s meeting.
When District 1 Commissioner Norman E. Davis died April 20 last year, that seat was vacant until Roberts was elected in a December runoff after none of the three candidates collected 50 percent of the vote in November’s special election.
The city took a step at its first meeting this year toward avoiding lengthy vacancies in the seats of the mayor and commissioners. The commission passed a resolution to amend the City Charter by adding the ability to fill a seat through appointment if the vacancy occurred after one and one-half years since the seatholder was elected.
Because the resolution amends the charter, it needs approval by the Legislature, which is pending. Even if it had been approved in Atlanta, Hopkins’ death January 29 fell inside the 18month window since her election November 3, 2023.
Felder asked Rayford how residents of District 4 would be served until a successor is determined. Rayford said citizens could contact him or any of the appropriate city department heads with issues just as they did until Roberts was seated.
The District 4 seat joins those for Districts 1-3 on the November ballot. Qualifying dates (August 19-22) and the fee ($288) for those seats was set at the commission’s first meeting of the new year.
Commissioners will need to determine if candidates for the District 4 seat use that qualifying schedule, or another time frame, Carlos Nelson said.
The last registration date to be eligible to vote in the election is Monday, October 6. Early voting will be October 14-31.
