Two new Floyd County commissioners took their oaths of office today, along with the returning commission chairman.

Floyd County Probate Court Judge Steve Burkhalter swore in Commission Chairman John Mayes for a third four-year term. He also administered the oaths to incoming Commissioners Eddie Lumsden and Chad Whitefield.

Lumsden replaced Chuck Hufstetler in the Post 4 seat. Whitefield took the Post 1 seat previously held by Tom Bennett. Hufstetler and Bennett did not run for re-election.

Among the attendees at the short ceremony were Rome City Commissioner Buzz Wachsteter and state Rep.-elect Katie Dempsey, R-Rome. Dempsey will be sworn into office at the opening of the Georgia General Assembly session on Monday.

The new county commissioners’ first meeting — on Jan. 9 — also will be the board’s first session in the newly remodeled meeting room of the Floyd County Administration Building on Fourth Avenue.

One of the board’s first actions will be to elect a chairman for 2007. Commissioners have typically given the chairman a two-year run, which would mean another year for Mayes. However, Mayes said today he would be “open to giving someone else a chance.”

For complete story see Wednesday’s Rome News-Tribune.