Bobby Williams will fill the vacant seat on the Putnam County Commission, serving as fifth district commissioner.
Williams gained the required 12 votes from commissioners. He will serve as a fifth district commissioner for seven months completing the remainder of Terry Randolph’s term.
“When I heard Mr. Randolph was leaving, I called Randy Porter and said I have no interest in running again, but if you need me I’ll fill in until the end of the term and I stand by that.”
Commissioners took three rounds of elections before a candidate received 12 votes. Each time, the lowest vote getter was removed from the race. Williams outlasted Vinnie Faccinto and Johnnie Wheeler for the seat.
A total of six candidates were considered Tuesday. Williams, Wheeler, Faccinto and Junior Phipps all received three minutes to address the commission beforehand. Brandon Burgess did not attend due to illness. Bruce Bailey did not show.
Before the voting began, 5th District Commissioner Cindy Adams reminded commissioners that the vote represented the people of the district.
“This is not a popularity contest,” Adams said. “This is not a time to vote for somebody, because you’ve known them since second grade. It’s not the time to vote for somebody because they did you a favor 20 years ago. This is a time for us to thoughtfully and carefully consider who will be the best representative of district five.”
Adams said she had three criteria for whoever filled the seat: a person who has served before, a person of same party as Randolph and a person who would not seek reelection.
“We have one candidate before us that fits all three of these criteria,” Adams said. “Bobby Williams was elected to this seat in 2014, and he held it just prior to commissioner Randolph’s election. Bobby is a conservative Republican. He ran as such when he was elected by the district five voters, and finally, Bobby will not be running for this seat in the 2022 election. I am the only person on the commission that is from district five and as a representative for them, I ask you to vote for Bobby Williams.”
In the first roll call, Wheeler received four votes, Faccinto six and Williams nine. Once Wheeler was removed, the second roll call yielded 11 votes for Williams and nine for Faccinto. The commission finally decided on Williams after a third roll call. The final vote gave Williams 12 and Faccinto eight.
Tyna Bryan would have made seven candidates, but Bryan removed their name from consideration before Tuesday’s commission meeting.
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