The stalemate continues over an appointment to the Habersham County Development Authority.
It’s been seven months since C. Allen Whitener’s term ended. No one has been appointed full-time to succeed him because commissioners can’t come to an agreement on who to appoint. It’s commissioner Jimmy Tench’s seat to fill. He’s tried twice to reappoint Whitener. Both times, his motion failed. Tench has not put forward another name, instead choosing to table the motion from month to month, leaving Whitener in place as an interim authority member.
During the commission meeting on Sept. 19, Habersham County Commission Chair Bruce Palmer tried sidestepping Tench by suspending the rules to allow another commissioner to make the appointment. Commissioners Dustin Mealor and Ty Akins sided with Palmer who then quickly put forward his own nominee, Darrin Johnston. Mealor and Akins approved. Commissioners Tench and Bruce Harkness voted against the motions.
Consulting with the county attorney, Palmer asked whether the rules could be suspended on a 3-2 vote. Attorney Donnie Hunt replied, “I don’t know the answer to that.”
In a brief but pointed exchange, Tench told Hunt, “The last time you said that Donnie, [it] was 4/5ths,” to which Hunt replied, “I’m thinking it is.” Commissioner Tench then responded, “I know it is because it was done in January of 2019, I know exactly when it was done. Stacy Hall’s the one that done it.”
Hunt declared the motion failed, retaining Tench’s privilege to make the appointment.
After several failed attempts to get Tench to sign off on another applicant and more back and forth with the county attorney, the commission course corrected. They withdrew the motion to suspend the rules and passed Tench’s motion to table the appointment for the fifth time. The motion passed 4-1, with Palmer dissenting.
Commissioners will revisit the issue in October.
