DALTON, Ga. — Members of the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners don’t need a quorum to hold a work session. That’s fortunate because three of the five board members were absent from Monday’s 5 p.m. work session.

The meeting went on as planned, with Chairman Lynn Laughter presiding while wearing a T-shirt with the words “Nevertheless She Persisted” on it. Commissioner Roger Crossen was the only other board member present.

Commissioners Harold Brooker, Greg Jones and Barry Robbins were absent.

Asked after the meeting about her T-shirt, Laughter said her son gave it to her a couple of years ago.

“Tonight seemed like a good night to wear it,” she said.

Laughter said she believes the slogan came from a children’s book. 

On Sunday, the Daily Citizen-News reported on a text message Laughter sent to other commissioners accusing seven people who contributed money to a group that worked to defeat a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) on the March ballot of lying and saying they should not serve on a committee to advise commissioners and other elected officials on a SPLOST that is being planned for an election in 2020.

Jones and Robbins said after the meeting they were dealing with things at work that ran longer than expected. Brooker said he was under the weather. Jones and Robbins were in attendance at a 6 p.m. joint meeting with the Dalton-Whitfield Planning Commission. 

County Attorney Robert Smalley said commissioners did not need a quorum (at least three commissioners) to hold a work session since it would be an informational meeting where no action would be taken.

Whitfield County Registrar Mary Hammontree said she will need $18,447.80 to mail out new precinct cards to all registered voters in the county. The cards tell voters the precinct the voter is in, where it is located and all the different voting districts they live in.

Hammontree said she needs to mail the cards out as soon as possible because elections in all of the county’s cities are scheduled for November. She said some people will be in new precincts. Hammontree said they also need to get the cards out because voters approved a measure on the November 2018 ballot moving the county to district voting for commissioners. Starting with the 2020 election, commissioners will be elected only by their district rather than by the entire county. The commission chairman will continue to be elected county-wide.

“We are required to mail the cards out as soon as possible,” Hammontree said. “This gives all voters the new information and changes on their precinct cards.”

Whitfield County Fire Chief Edward O’Brien said he is going to request $27,988 for a new set of Hurst extrication tools, popularly called the Jaws of Life.

“We are buying a demo set, which will save us 12 to 15 percent (from a new set),” he said.

O’Brien said the department currently has four sets of the tools.

Commissioners will likely take up both requests at their Aug. 12 meeting.