Tallulah Falls appoints Henry as interim council member

The Town of Tallulah Falls has a new interim council member as Cissy Henry was voted in at the council meeting Aug. 16 to fill the seat recently left vacant by Tom Tilley.

Linda Lapeyrouse, town clerk, said Tilley notified officials in July he was moving out of the city and submitted his official resignation Aug. 16. Lapeyrouse said Tallulah Falls council members must reside within the city in order to serve as a town council member.

“Cissy has said she is willing to serve,” officials discussed before voting on the motion to appoint Henry, who will serve until the Nov. 7 Special Election.

In October 2020, Henry pled guilty to one count of obstructing law enforcement officers in Rabun County Superior Court related to an investigation involving the disappearance of $56,035 in signed checks belonging to the City of Clayton Enterprise Fund and Water Reserve Fund.

The checks were later recovered. Superior Court Judge B. Chan Caudell sentenced Henry to 12 months’ probation and ordered her to pay a $750 fine and perform 40 hours of community service, according to The Clayton Tribune.

Henry is the former city manager for the City of Clayton until resigning her post in Sept. 2020. According to The Clayton Tribune in September 2020 of a comment by then-Mayor Jordan Green, Henry “wasn’t fired or leaving on bad terms.”

Henry took the oath of office and was sworn-in by Lapeyrouse immediately following the vote. As her first act, she resigned from her post as chair of the Tallulah Falls Planning and Zoning Commission “effective immediately.”

According to the call for special election legal notice, Tallulah Falls will hold a special election Nov. 7 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Tilley, whose term expires in December 2025.

Qualifying for the special election will be held at the Rabun County Board of Elections and Registration office, 184 S. Main St., Suite 102, Clayton, beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 6, and ending at 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 8. The qualifying fee is $18, according to the legal advertisement published in The Clayton Tribune.

Any Tallulah Falls residents not registered to vote who desire to vote in the special election may register through the close of business Oct. 10.

Early voting will be held Oct. 16-Nov. 3.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Nov. 7. If a runoff is required, it will be held Dec. 5.