A year ago this November, residents of Walker County voted overwhelmingly to transition from a sole commissioner to a five-member board, spreading the power to multiple elected officials.
The switch will go into effect January 2021 but the candidates will be voted on in the November 2020 election, and with less than a year until the primary in May, residents are already declaring their candidacy.
Eleven candidates and more than 80 community members attended a forum at Union Avenue Baptist Church last week.
“We wanted to start an education process for those who may not be familiar with the way this will work,” Dean Kelley, executive director of the Georgia Transparency Coalition, told the attendees.
The meeting was co-hosted by the Wilson Road Neighborhood Group, a vocal citizens group that pushed for the transition.