Monday evening’s meeting of the Carter County Commission saw a changing of the guard as members selected a new Chairman and Vice-Chairman to preside over the governing body’s meetings.

When the time came on the agenda to select a chairman, Carter County Mayor Leon Humphrey, who has served as chairman for the past three years, asked to address the group. He announced that he was resigning his position as chairman and was withdrawing his name from consideration to be reappointed to the post.

“I really appreciate your trust in allowing me to serve as your chair for three years,” Humphrey said.

Humphrey said he wants to focus more of his time and energy on economic and community development initiatives. Citing the number of competitive grants his office has secured in recent months, his work with hotel developers to try to bring a new hotel to the community, and the new corporate attraction video which is being produced for the county through grant funding, Humphrey said he has an increasing workload in his office.

“I now know the Mayor is not going to have time to serve as chair of the Commission,” Humphrey said in reference to himself.

Following his announcement, Humphrey turned the gavel over Vice Chairman Ray Lyons to preside over the Commission’s selection of a new chairperson and Humphrey then took a seat in the audience.

Commissioner Buford Peters nominated Commissioner Dr. Robert Acuff to serve as chairman while Commissioner Randall Jenkins nominated Lyons for the position. Commissioner Charles VonCannon nominated Sonja Culler to serve as chairwoman of the Commission, but she declined the nomination.

Members of the Commission were then called to vote for the person they wished to serve as their chairman, with Acuff winning the vote by a margin if 13-10. Those voting in favor of Acuff were Commissioners Peters, Willie Campbell, Acuff, Mike Hill, Al Meehan, Bradley Johnson, Isaiah Grindstaff, L.C. Tester, Danny Ward, Ross Garland, Bobbie Gouge-Dietz, Culler, and Kelly Collins. Commissioners Nancy Brown, Ronnie Trivette, VonCannon, Timothy Holdren, Jenkins, John Lewis, Larry “Doc” Miller, Lyons, Robert Carroll, and Cody McQueen all their ballots for Lyons.

Following the vote, Lyons passed the gavel to the newly elected chairman.

“I’m going to do my very best to represent you,” Acuff told the Commission as he thanked them for selecting him. “Mayor, I want to thank you too for your service over the last few years.”

Acuff then asked Humphrey to return to the court floor and take a seat next to him and County Attorney Josh Hardin. Having the Mayor sitting with him would be a show of solidarity and cooperation, according to Acuff, who added he would be leaning on Humphrey for guidance not only during this meeting but in future meetings as well.

“I prefer to sit here with the people who entrusted me and elected me,” Humphrey replied. “Chairman (Tom) Bowers and I worked well together. I will be here to support because it takes all of us working together to move this country forward.”

The meeting then moved on to the selection of a vice chair for the governing body. Lyons nominated Garland while himself declining a nomination by Ward. Campbell nominated Johnson. Holdren and Jenkins were also nominated, but they declined the opportunity.

Johnson was selected as Vice Chairman by a margin of 13-10. Commissioners Campbell, Peters, Acuff, Hill, Meehan, Johnson, Grindstaff, Tester, Ward, Lewis, Miller, Culler, and McQueen voted for Johnson while Brown, Trivett, VonCannon, Garland, Gouge-Dietz, Holdren, Jenkins, Lyons, Carroll and Collins cast their ballots for Garland.

Members of the Commission also voted on committee appointments on Monday evening. The only District which will see a change in appointments will be the 8th District. All three commissioners from that district —Carroll, McQueen, and Collins — expressed a desire to serve on the budget committee. Per the Commission’s bylaws, if there is no clear majority from the three district members as to the committee assignments, the matter will be put to a vote by the full Commission.

When the matter was put to a vote, 14 commissioners voted for Collins to serve on the Budget Committee, while five selected McQueen and four voted for Carroll, who previously served as the district’s representative on the Budget Committee. Collins will now take a seat on the Budget Committee while Carroll will take the seat previously held by Collins on the Education, Highway, and Landfill committees.

The committee assignments for the various districts are as follows:

Budget and Nominating Committees: Dr. Robert Acuff (1st), Al Meehan (2nd), Ronnie Trivett (3rd), L.C. Tester (4th), Ross Garland (5th), John Lewis (6th), Sonja Culler (7th), and Robert Carroll (8th).

Highway, Education, and Landfill Committees: Buford Peters (1st), Mike Hill (2nd), Charles VonCannon (3rd), Danny Ward (4th), Bobbie Gouge-Dietz (5th), Larry “Doc” Miller (6th), Scott Simerly (7th), and Kelly Collins (8th).

Buildings & Grounds, Rules & Bylaws, Health & Welfare, and Law Enforcement Committees: Willie Campbell (1st), Nancy Brown (2nd), Bradley Johnson (3rd), Isaiah Grindstaff (4th), Timothy Holdren (5th), Randall Jenkins (6th), Ray Lyons (7th), and Cody McQueen (8th).

Commissioners also selected Ward and Gouge-Dietz to return to the Financial Management Committee while Jenkins and Johnson were tapped to join the committee replacing former members Lyons and VonCannon.