Putnam County commissioners direct revisions and town hall on C-PACER after rescind attempt fails
March 01, 2026 | Putnam County, Georgia
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The Putnam County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 20, 2026 declined an initial attempt to rescind its Dec. 16, 2025 motion regarding adoption of a C-PACER program, then voted to delay final action while officials revise the resolution and hold public outreach.
During discussion of the C-PACER item, Commissioner Steve Hersey moved to rescind the December motion; that motion passed only with Hersey voting yea and Commissioners Tom McElhenney, Richard Garrett and Jeff Wooten voting nay. The board then approved a separate motion directing Commissioner Hersey to work with County Attorney Adam Nelson to articulate concerns raised at the meeting, amend the C-PACER resolution, return it to the board for reconsideration, schedule a public town hall on C-PACER within 30 days and restrain the chairman from signing any C-PACER intergovernmental agreement for 30 days. The second motion passed with McElhenney, Garrett and Wooten voting yea and Hersey voting nay.
A member of the public, Ms. Barb Vargo, spoke in favor of the C-PACER program during the discussion. No details of specific edits to the resolution were recorded in the minutes; the board’s action instructs staff and the county attorney to draft any amendments and return them to the board.
The directive leaves the county’s previous Dec. 16 action intact for now but sets a process — including a town hall and targeted revisions — before any chairman signature or execution of an IGA. The board did not make substantive policy changes on the floor at the Jan. 20 meeting beyond the scheduling and revision directive.
The board’s recorded votes and the town-hall timeline mean the next procedural steps are subject to the county attorney’s and Commissioner Hersey’s work and any public input at the scheduled meeting.
During discussion of the C-PACER item, Commissioner Steve Hersey moved to rescind the December motion; that motion passed only with Hersey voting yea and Commissioners Tom McElhenney, Richard Garrett and Jeff Wooten voting nay. The board then approved a separate motion directing Commissioner Hersey to work with County Attorney Adam Nelson to articulate concerns raised at the meeting, amend the C-PACER resolution, return it to the board for reconsideration, schedule a public town hall on C-PACER within 30 days and restrain the chairman from signing any C-PACER intergovernmental agreement for 30 days. The second motion passed with McElhenney, Garrett and Wooten voting yea and Hersey voting nay.
A member of the public, Ms. Barb Vargo, spoke in favor of the C-PACER program during the discussion. No details of specific edits to the resolution were recorded in the minutes; the board’s action instructs staff and the county attorney to draft any amendments and return them to the board.
The directive leaves the county’s previous Dec. 16 action intact for now but sets a process — including a town hall and targeted revisions — before any chairman signature or execution of an IGA. The board did not make substantive policy changes on the floor at the Jan. 20 meeting beyond the scheduling and revision directive.
The board’s recorded votes and the town-hall timeline mean the next procedural steps are subject to the county attorney’s and Commissioner Hersey’s work and any public input at the scheduled meeting.
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