Harkness named Habersham Commission vice-chair

The Habersham County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted in favor of Commissioner Bruce Harkness, third from left, to serve as vice-chair.

After two months without a vice-chairperson, the Habersham County Commission unanimously voted for Commissioner Bruce Harkness to fill the position at their regular meeting Monday night.

When former Habersham County Commissioner Tim Stamey suddenly resigned his position as commissioner in late April, he also left a vacancy for the role of vice-chairman. The commission has been without a vice-chair since.

Commissioner Bruce Harkness will serve as the vice-chairman of the Habersham County Commission for the remainder of 2021.

During the commission’s May 10 meeting, the commissioners could not agree on who would succeed Stamey. During that meeting, Commissioner Bruce Harkness nominated Commissioner Jimmy Tench while Chairman Dustin Mealor nominated Commissioner Bruce Palmer. Harkness and Tench voted for Tench to take the position of vice-chair. Mealor and Palmer both voted for Palmer to take the position of vice-chair. Due to a lack of a majority, both motions failed.

At their meeting on June 21, the commission came to an agreement and voted in favor of appointing Harkness to the vice-chairman position. Harkness had originally nominated Tench at the June meeting, but the motion failed due to Harkness and Tench being the only commissioners to vote in favor. Palmer nominated Harkness.

Harkness will serve as vice-chairman for the remainder of 2021.

You can view the full meeting here.