New appointments to the City of Cedartown Commission were recently made at their Monday, Jan. 12 meeting.

The commission’s first meeting of the new year saw Ray Merritt hand over his duties as commission chairman to Commissioner Wilburn Brown.

While acknowledging the jobs that past commissioners have done, Brown is already looking forward to the year ahead. “We want to have a real productive year,” Brown said.

Bobby Alexander bestowed his position as vice-chairman to Commissioner Johnny Barrett at the meeting as well.

“It is an honor for me to be elected commissioner pro-tem. It is a privilege to work with the other commissioners and our city manager. We will work diligently to make our town a better place to work, live and raise our families for many years to come,” Barrett said in a recent statement to The Cedartown Standard.

Both Brown and Barrett received 100 percent of the vote from the other commission members which, according to Barrett, shows a sense of unity among the group.

The commission meeting also saw two long-time commissioners sworn in after their re-elections last November.

In addition to the new appointments, Merritt and Alexander were both sworn in by Judge Richard Sutton to begin each of their new four-year terms.

Alexander has spent over 30 years on the commission, while Merritt has spent 12 years.

Merritt remains on the commission after he garnered 27 percent of the vote in last year’s low turnout election, coming in first place among all of the candidates.

Alexander came in second place with 23 percent of the vote.

The Cedartown City Commission meets the second Monday of each month at 7 p.m. in the commission room at City Hall.