UNION — Less than a week after he was appointed by the governor to his seat on Union County Council, Frank Hart has been appointed by council to serve on the Catawba Regional Council of Governments.
During this week’s council meeting, Supervisor Tommy Sinclair presented council with a letter from Randy Imler, COG executive director, which stated that “the Council of Governments has a membership vacancy from Union County Council. This is the position formerly held by Mrs. Dora Martin-Jennings.”
Imler further states that council “is the appointing authority for all Catawba COG Board members from Union County. In order for the Council of Governments to have adequate representation at its January 24 meeting, we are requesting that new appointment be made by January 10, 2013.”
The COG didn’t have to wait that long as council voted unanimously to appoint Hart to the seat.
Tuesday was Hart’s first meeting as a member of council. He holds the District 2 council seat which, like the COG seat, was held by Martin-Jennings until her death on Sept. 28.
Hart, a businessman, was elected to the District 2 seat in the November general election. His term, however, does not begin until Jan. 2 which left the seat vacant even after he was elected.
Shortly after the election, Hart contacted S.C. District 13 Sen. Shane Martin about the possibility of Gov. Nikki Haley appointing him to serve out Martin-Jennings’ unexpired term. He said he did so because he felt it was important that District 2 have representation on council.
On Friday, Martin informed Hart that Haley had appointed him to the District 2 seat. On Tuesday, Hart was sworn in as the District 2 councilman by Union County Clerk of Court Freddie Gault and attended his first meeting as a member of council that evening.
Hart said Wednesday he is looking forward to serving with the COG and helping Union County through his service there as well as on county council.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to work with the COG. That’s a great partnership for the county. I look forward to working with them to move Union County forward.”
According to its website (catawbacog.org) the COG “is an association of South Carolina local governments in Chester, Lancaster, Union, and York counties. The COG serves as a forum for intergovernmental cooperation and as a central staffing resource for grantsmanship, land use and transportation planning, community and economic development, workforce investment, GIS mapping, information systems, and project management.”
Editor Charles Warner can be reached at 864-427-1234, ext. 14, or by email at cwarner@heartlandpublications.com.
Post a Comment
