Fayette County’s newest commissioner will be sworn in Thursday night just before the commission’s regular business meeting.
Charles Rousseau, a black democrat, won in a landslide last week against two white republicans in a special election to fill the seat left vacant by Commission Vice Chairwoman Pota Coston, the county’s first African-American elected to the county commission. Coston died July 3 after just six months in office.
Thursday’s meeting will be Rousseau’s first as county commissioner of District 5, a district created under a federal plan set up to give black residents in Fayette a more equitable chance at electing candidates of their choice. Rousseau was elected using a district-only voting.
The county goes to court in November to fight to have at-large - or countywide -voting restored. Rousseau, a retired Fulton County government administrator, has lived in Fayette for 22 years. The 54-year-old ran unsuccessfully for county commission in 2006.
The swearing-in ceremony is set for about 7 p.m.
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