County Commissioners Split Over District One Appointee

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

The Dade County Board of Commissioners held a special called meeting on Nov. 18 at 2 p.m. to appoint a member to fill the District One seat left vacant after Lamar Lowery’s passing. After some discussion and a two-to-two vote, Melissa Bradford (District Four commissioner) changed her vote from Mitchell Smith to Dr. William Pullen Jr., resulting in a three-to-one vote.

Ted Rumley (county executive) began the meeting by asking for a motion, but it was unclear what the motion was for, so Phillip Hartline (District Two commissioner) asked for clarification. Rumley said they could discuss the matter.

Hartline said, “I’ve been told Lamar’s wishes. Me and him didn’t always agree on everything. This is going to be one of the things. It’s something I can’t get out of my head.”

He explained that he’d spoken with Smith (who served previously on the commission). Hartline wanted to appoint Smith, saying Smith was willing to serve but had no intention of running in the 2026 election.

Robert Goff (District Three commissioner) said he felt that both Smith and Pullen are good candidates but he opted to follow Lowery’s wishes. He noted that should the appointee run in the 2026 election, they would have an unfair advantage as an incumbent. However, he said, “I don’t know that it’s fair to ask somebody not to run.”

Bradford seemed to say that she was not told that she couldn’t run when the commission first appointed her. The Sentinel followed up with her, and she confirmed that she wasn’t told that she couldn’t run. However, she had not originally planned to run but changed her mind once on the commission.

At the meeting, she noted that Smith had gone through training and had previous experience on the commission. She said, “I would love to see somebody get in [here] and get to work and keep on trucking.”

Rumley reiterated that Lowery wanted Pullen to be appointed. Rumley said he gave his word to Lowery and therefore wanted to appoint Pullen.

Hartline made a motion to vote on Smith, which Bradford seconded. Rumley and Goff voted no; Hartline and Bradford voted yes.

No one seemed sure of what to do with this tie, but it could not end in a stalemate. The chair (Rumley) does not act as a tiebreaker. The Sentinel confirmed afterward with Don Townsend (CFO and county clerk) that Rumley gets a regular vote.

Goff then made a motion to vote on Pullen, which Rumley seconded. Hartline voted no, but Bradford voted for Pullen, ending the stalemate.

The Sentinel confirmed with her afterward that she voted this way to end the stalemate and because she agreed with the desire to follow Lowery’s wishes. She said, “Yes, we could go round and round but the good thing would be to follow his wishes.”

However, she reiterated her preference for Smith simply because of his prior experience and training.

Goff, Bradford, and Rumley expressed the desire to have more than 15 days to fill vacant seats. Goff recommended adding the topic to next month’s agenda, saying, “We’ll try to get with our state senator and state representative,” but as explained in last week’s Sentinel, the 15-day limit comes from local ordinances.

The Sentinel followed up with Townsend who explained that when the home rule is applied to most things outside of the formation of government, changes do not have to go before the Georgia General Assembly. He said these changes are treated like a change to an ordinance.

Immediately after the meeting adjourned, Chris Wade (Lowery’s challenger in the 2022 election) announced that the commission is rigged. He cited the nearly 1,300 votes he received in the 2022 election as a reason that the commission should have considered him. He said he didn’t get to voice his interest in serving “because you took no participation from the constituents. You gave us no formal way to talk about this, and that is not acceptable.”

However, whether citizens like it or not, the local ordinances do not require the commission to consider previous candidates.

Several commissioners asked Wade if he had contacted the commission, but he left hastily and did not answer. The Sentinel contacted Wade who said he had spoken with Rumley after Lowery’s passing. Wade reported that he told Rumley he was interested in filling the remaining term. He also attended the Nov. 7 monthly county commission meeting intending to voice his desire to serve, but due to the drama at that meeting, he chose not to speak. He attended the special called meeting but there was no Citizens Participation section.