DAHLONEGA, Ga.- The City Council voted to appoint a temporary member for the remainder of the post 5 term after receiving applications for the position last month.

The council also approved three ordinances to begin the process for the distilled spirits package store. The last item they approved was the amendment of the personnel management system policies.

Mayor JoAnne Taylor while swearing-in Lance Bagley for the Post 5 position on the City Council.

The council voted three to two in favor of Lance Bagley for the temporary post 5 position on the council. The council announced at their Feb. 7 meeting that they would begin accepting applications for the position. They accepted applications until Feb. 21 at which time they had received ten applications.

In order to make that more manageable Mayor JoAnne Taylor asked the council to select one application that they supported. The council then voted on the two options that were left.

The reason the council made the appointment instead of holding a special election to have the citizens vote someone in is due to the City Charter. The charter which was changed by a previous council, due to health and members stepping down, states that the council should appoint to fill the empty seat. To read this view https://library.municode.com/ga/dahlonega/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTICHRELA_SPACH, the code on vacancies is section 5.12.

There were citizens present that objected to the position being appointed instead of elected. The council heard their concerns and explained why this step was being taken and Taylor read the code on the matter before the vote.

“I’d like to reiterate something that was said tonight, and that is that it is fascinating that ten people put in an application to be appointed to this position and last November we had two seats that were elected that no one opposed the candidates so my hope and prayer is that the nine of you that weren’t appointed tonight consider running for election in a future time frame,” commented Councilmen Ron Larson.

City Attorney Doug Parks presented the council with the first ordinances for the package store. The ordinances now have to go before the Planning Commission before they come back to the council for the final approval. The ordinances changed the zoning on B1 and B2 to allow the package store in those districts. The ordinances are 2022-05, 2022-06, and 2022-07.

The final item that was approved was the amendment of personnel management system policies. Finance Director Allison Martin brought this to the council at the work session on Feb. 21. The only change from that reading of it was to move the vehicle safety practices to their own section as suggested by the council. To view what the council discussed at the work session visit https://lumpkin.fetchyournews.com/2022/02/22/council-begins-discussions-on-distilled-spirits-package-store-memorandums/.