Hearn named chair of Fayette County commission

After four rounds of voting at its Jan. 14 meeting, the Fayette County Board of Commissioners chose Lee Hearn to be its chair for the next year. The first three rounds put Hearn and Chuck Oddo in a 3-2 split, with Eric Maxwell supporting Hearn, Edward “Edge” Gibbons supporting Oddo, and Charles Rousseau opposing both. After the third round, Oddo claimed that “these are political games” and urged Rousseau to pick a side. Maxwell said he spent the last two months trying to get Oddo and Hearn to sort things out. “This is not the best way to start out the year,” he said. The fourth vote resulted in a 4-1 approval for Hearn, with Rousseau voting against; he later said that he was “very disappointed and disheartened” by the voting pressure.

Gibbons was chosen on the same 4-1 split to be vice chair after Oddo and Rousseau declined their nominations. Hearn was elected in November to rejoin the board representing District 2, replacing Randy Ognio, after previously serving from 2009 to 2012.