Forsyth commission unseats chairman, weakens position

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By Patrick Fox

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Minutes after stripping the position of much its power last week, Forsyth County commissioners ousted Chairman Brian Tam Thursday and replaced him with first-term Commissioner Jim Boff.

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Forsyth County commissioners ousted Chairman Brian Tam Thursday as they also voted to weaken the chairman position.

Curtis Compton, ccompton@ajc.com Forsyth County commissioners ousted Chairman Brian Tam Thursday as they also voted to weaken the chairman position.

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First-term Commissioner Jim Boff will replace Tam as chairman.

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The move surprised Boff. “I didn’t see it coming, but I kind of sensed something in the breeze this morning,” he said during a meeting break.

Word of the change rippled through Georgia’s fastest-growing county Friday with mixed reactions.

Brant Meadows, a former planning commissioner and frequent follower of county government, said he thinks the business community and the city of Cumming will have less influence with the board.

“There seems to be a move here to reel things in,” Meadows said. “There’s been a real concern about a close relationship with the city of Cumming in particular and the Chamber of Commerce.”

Others saw less in the move. “I know Chairman Boff and Commissioner Tam, and I think it will be a seamless transition,” said Claudia Castro, director of Smart Growth Forsyth County.

The 3-2 vote Thursday followed unanimous passage of a measure that flattens the commission, with no one seat more powerful than another.

Before this change, the chairman had powers to add an item to the commission agenda and twice a year to remove an item from the agenda. The new measure also requires the chairman to receive majority approval on appointments of community members to various advisory boards.

Tam, now in his second term on the commission, said Friday he is proud of the board’s accomplishments over the past year, with a solid financial standing and infrastructure funding lined up through 2019. He attributed his ouster to Commission Vice Chairman Patrick Bell, who seconded the motion to replace him, which was made by Commissioner Todd Levent.

“I met with every board member and told them I couldn’t support Patrick Bell as an officer on our board because of his badgering of our state Attorney General’s Office,” Tam said.

Bell has decried an attorney general’s opinion this fall that called commissioners to task for a February meeting with Cumming officials to discuss a proposed local option sales tax. The ruling stated the four commissioners who participated were skirting the spirit of the state open meetings law.

“While Boff and Levent may condone his behavior, I do not want our county represented in that way,” Tam said.

Bell, who was reappointed vice chairman, said during a break in Thursday’s meeting there was no animosity among board members.

Boff in the past has been labeled an odd man out on the five-member commission, often representing the lone dissent in 4-1 votes.

He was left out of the controversial gathering last year with Cumming officials. And Boff was the only commissioner who spoke against the recently redrawn commission districts, although he eventually voted for them.