Click to view Chad Whitefield’s statement of candidacy. Click to view Eddie Lumsden’s statement of candidacy.

After incoming Floyd County Commissioners Chad Whitefield and Eddie Lumsden swore their oaths of office Tuesday, they added some informal promises of their own.

“Eddie and I ran on accessibility, and we’re going to be making ourselves available,” Whitefield said in announcing a reception they have planned for Jan. 9.

The newly elected commissioners are inviting supporters and constituents to drop by for a chat from 6 to 7 p.m. at Schroeder’s New Deli in Armuchee. Whitefield said they hope to hold several similar events each year.

Lumsden likened the gathering to a listening session where residents can pass along concerns and questions about their local government. He said he also intends to “absorb all that I can” from sitting commissioners and professional county staffers.

“A team approach is far superior to playing politics,” Lumsden said. “I believe in open government, and that’s how I plan to conduct myself.”

Floyd County Probate Court Judge Steve Burkhalter administered the oaths to Whitefield, Lumsden and Commission Chairman John Mayes — who is starting his third four-year term.

Among the attendees at the 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 Monday.

“I’m here to show the city’s support,” Wachsteter said. “We look forward to many, many years of working in cooperation with this board.”

The new county commissioners’ first meeting 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. That would mean another year for Mayes, although he said Tuesday he is “open to the possibility of a change.”

The most important issue on the Commission’s agenda right now, Mayes said, is finalizing the county budget for the upcoming year.

“We’re getting less money in and more mandates from the state,” he said. “We’re going to have to make some hard decisions.”

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.