As Macon County Commissioner Ronnie Beale said his farewell in a fairly empty commissioner’s board room of the Macon County Courthouse, an upstairs courtroom was standing room only as family and friends waited to observe the swearing in of newly elected commissioners, the register of deeds and the new Macon County sheriff.
Chairman Jim Tate called the meeting of the Board of Macon County Commissioners to order for his last time on Monday night saying he had said his farewell at the November meeting. He yielded the floor to Commissioner Ronnie Beale who was also completing his last meeting as a Macon County Commissioner.
“It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve the citizens of Macon County for the past 16 years,” said Beale, who lost his bid for re-election. “I am grateful for the opportunity to serve this community and this county. We all care about Macon County, and I wish this board the best moving forward. It is time to do what boards should do – serve the community. To quote the late John Lewis … ‘It’s now time to build and not tear down, reconcile and not divide, and to love and not hate.’ At the end of the day, we are all Maconians.”
Following Beale’s comments, the meeting was recessed to an upstairs courtroom where law enforcement officers lined the walls of a room filled with family and friends who had come to see their loved ones take the oath of office.
The meeting reconvened with the unanimous selection of a new chairman, Paul Higdon, and new vice-chairman, Josh Young, followed by Commissioners Gary Shields, Danny Antoine and John Shearl taking their oaths of office administered by Chief District Court Judge Roy Wijewickrama.
Commissioners adopted a meeting schedule for 2023. The Macon County Board of Commissioners will continue to hold their regular monthly meeting on the second Tuesday of each month.
Todd Raby, who ran unopposed in his re-election as Register of Deeds, was joined by his son as he took his oath of office administered by Judge Wijewickrama.
Commissioners also formally approved the bond for Sheriff-elect Brent Holbrooks and delivered it to newly elected Clerk of Superior Court Shawna Thun Lamb for registration prior to Holbrooks taking the oath of office.
Holbrooks was joined by his wife and three of his children as he laid his hand on a family Bible and took his oath of office to “...support the Constitution and laws of the United States, to be faithful and bear true allegiance to the State of North Carolina, to the constitutional powers and authorities which are or may be established for the government therefore; to endeavor to support, maintain and defend the Constitution and laws of said State, not inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States, to the best of his ability...”
The meeting concluded with members of the Sheriff’s Office taking their oath of office.
Clerk of Court Shawna Thun Lamb was sworn in during a separate ceremony Monday morning.