Stamey gets four-year term on county commission
Tim Stamey was elected to his first full term Tuesday.
Habersham County Commissioner Tim Stamey will get a full four-year term in office after a landslide victory in Tuesday’s general election.
Stamey got 16,382 of 19,691 votes (83.2%) to easily outpace Democratic challenger Mike Adams (3,309 votes). Stamey has served in the District 5 seat for a year after winning a special election in December 2019.
“It’s very humbling,” Stamey said Tuesday night. “I am appreciative of everyone who has supported me.”
Stamey, a Batesville resident who did not get his power back from the Zeta storm until the day before the election, will join a reshaped county commission that includes District 1 winner Bruce Palmer and District 4 winner Bruce Harkness.
That leaves Commissioners Dustin Mealor and Jimmy Tench – who were just elected in 2018 – as the most experienced members of what will be a green commission starting in January.
Stamey said he does not have aspirations to immediately be chairman, deferring to the two senior members of the group.
“I plan to let those guys use their experience and lead us,” Stamey said. “I see the commission working together more in the future and working closely to meet the citizens’ needs.”
Mealor said his work keeps him tied up, making it unlikely that he would pursue the chair this year.
“I’m excited to see what the Bruces have to offer and I am looking forward to working with them,” Mealor said.
Stamey said his early priorities include trying to find ways to pay down county debt and work on future budgets. “We want to try to keep taxes low and keep our costs down,” he said. “I’m a fiscal conservative all the way.”
Stamey voted against the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) and publicly stated that he would have rather just gone with a five-year SPLOST.
His plan would have put $15 million into a jail renovation project, another $8 million on the hospital debt, and allowed $12 million for the county and just $5 million for the cities to split amongst themselves. The option that was eventually approved by county and city officials includes more than $13.6 million for those seven municipalities.
Read full election coverage in the weekend edition of The Northeast Georgian.
Habersham County unofficial vote totals (projected winners in bold):
US House - Andrew Clyde, 83.1% over Devin Pandy
(District wide) - Clyde 79.3%, Pandy 20.7%
US Senate - Doug Collins 51.3%, Kelly Loeffler 26.7%, Raphael Warnock 10.6%
(Statewide) - Warnock 31.9%, Loeffler 26.5%, Collins 20.4%
US Senate - David Perdue 80.9% over Jon Ossoff
(Statewide) Perdue 49.9, Ossoff 47.7% (runoff Jan. 5)
State Senate - Bo Hatchett 84.8% over Dee Daley
(District wide Hatchett 83.7%)
State House - Victor Anderson 83.4% over Nick Mitchell
(District wide - Anderson 83.9%)
County Commission - Tim Stamey 83.2%, Mike Adams 16.8%
SPLOST - 76% YES, 24% NO
Demorest City Council (Top 2 elected)
Jim Welborn 244
Shawn Allen 236
Keith Andrews 221
Amanda Crump Mason 217
Jerry Mobley 91
Matthew Crews 67
Russell Goldsmith 39