Three members of the Grovetown City Council were sworn into office on Thursday, Jan. 4
Mayor Gary Jones and council members Eric Blair and Richard Bowman all took the oath of office from Judge Grady Blanchard after being elected in November.
For Bowman, he said it was exciting and humbling to be sworn in.
I’m looking forward to being a real part of helping to shape the future of a town that’s already a great place to live.”
Jones thanked everyone for attending and said he is looking forward to the next four years on the city council.
“We’re going to continue to make this city grow and prosper to the best that we can to serve each and every one of you,” Jones said. “You know that we have an open-door policy, all you have to do is come and see us and tell us what your problem is. If we can’t resolve it, we’ll find a way to resolve it at a later time. We do the best hat we can. We realize that we are beholden to you, you are our citizens.”
Blair, who is entering his third term, thanked his family for attending and said he would not be able be on the city council without their support.
“This has been a great day,” Blair said. “On my Facebook memories this morning popped up eight years ago today, Gary and I were right here getting sworn in. We got sworn in in the morning and then we spent half a day or so drinking from a firehose learning about this great city of Grovetown and everything that they do and we’re about. Here we are eight years later, Gary and I are starting our third term.”
Blair added that he was looking forward to working with Jones, Bowman and Dr. Sylvia Martin over the next four years.
“I think that, in my eight years, the makeup of this council is probably the most harmonious council that we’ve had and I expect great things to get done,” Blair said.
The election season isn’t over for the City of Grovetown. There is an empty seat that was vacated by Dr. Deborah Fisher when she resigned to run for the mayor in 2023. A special election will be held on March 12 to fill that seat. Two candidates filed to run for that spot Jacqueline Rivera-Player and Ceretta Smith.
Stephanie Hill is the managing editor and covers Columbia County government for The Augusta Press. Reach her at stephanie@theaugustapress.com.
