The Madison County Commission witnessed a changing of the guard during its monthly meeting Monday morning.
September each year is when the Commission appoints its chairman and chairman pro tempore, and both Commissioners who’d held those positions for years were ready to resign from those positions.
Arthur Johnson suffered a stroke in June and has been recovering ever since has served as the chairman pro tempore. Gary Deaton has served as the chairman.
“This will be my last day serving as chairman,” Deaton said early in the meeting during the time when the chairman usually makes comments. “It hasn’t always been easy, and I haven’t made everyone happy, but I tried to be fair as much as I could.”
Deaton was vocal two years ago about not planning to run for re-election in 2022 before changing his mind and running. He continued to serve last year after winning re-election as the Commission chair.
Mike Taylor, who’s been on the Commission for nine years, was the one selected to move to the chairman’s seat.
Carl Alexander, who’s been on the Commission for five years but has seen his role increase noticeably in the last couple years with committee appointments and chairing many of those, is the new chairman pro tempore.
“Commissioner Deaton did a phenomenal job as the chairman, and I wouldn’t have considered taking on that job if he weren’t here to lean on,” Taylor said. “And I plan on leaning on him a lot for the first little while of this.”
Taylor said he’s glad to have Alexander on as the chairman pro tempore.
“Commissioner Alexander is one that’s made himself available and has stepped up to lead on a lot of committees, so I know having him there will be helpful,” Taylor said. “But with him and Commissioner Johnson, it’s similar to me and Commissioner Deaton.
“Commissioner Johnson is still on the Commission, and we’re waiting for him to get back to being healthy enough to be with us at the meetings, and hopefully it’ll happen soon. But I know he’s said he’s willing to help Carl and myself however we need it, and that’s really good that we have that experience still with us to lean on when we need to.”
Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news
