Beverly Petyon is the new Bartow County GOP chair, beating long-time volunteer Fred Kittle by one vote and outpacing other candidates Shannon Boatfield and Cheryl Webnar Harris.
In her speech for chair, Peyton said she wants to include ideas from all members to grow the local party and set sights on including more young people in the GOP. She said Gen Z is the most conservative generation in years, and they are ready to be included.
Other board seats were filled unopposed.
The chair election was one of several items on the agenda for the county meeting held on Saturday, March 22 at Euharlee Baptist Church. The group also finalized its delegates and alternates for the district meeting set for April 26 in Ballground and the state convention scheduled for June in Dalton.
Those attending heard from State Rep. Matthew Gambill and State Sen. Ed Setzler about what is going on under the Gold Dome in the last days of the session including the fight against puberty blockers and reducing state income tax.
The group approved four resolutions that will be sent to lawmakers informing them of local concerns. Those include:
Opposition to ranked-choice voting.
A resolution that forbids medical facilities to require a person to be up-to-date on vaccinations according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines to be placed on the transplant list. This includes the COVID-19 vaccination.
Support of laws and a 2025 ballot initiative to cap Bartow County property tax hikes at the rate of inflation.
A resolution supporting the prohibition of fluoride in Bartow County public water and urging County Commissioner Steve Taylor to proceed with taking fluoride out of the local county water system.
The fluoride-banning resolution has some minimal discussion as a Cartersville city official attending the meeting said the county gets most of its water from the city and it has fluoride. He said there are state and national mandates in place so removing fluoride couldn’t be a local ordinance.
Melody Dareing is a freelance writer for publications in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Germany. She is the former news director of Adelphia Channel 4.