Greeting his colleagues with a fist bump, Chester Ellis took his seat as chairman of the Chatham Commission for the first time on Friday along with four new commissioners during the first meeting of the year. Ellis succeeded former Chairman Al Scott, who met his term limit for the seat.
Along with Ellis, who formerly served as commissioner for District 8, new members Larry “Gator” Rivers, Tanya Milton, Aaron Whitely and Kenneth Adams were sworn in earlier this month. They join returning commission members Helen Stone, Bobby Lockett, Pat Farrell and Dean Kicklighter.
One of the first items for the new commission was a bimonthly COVID-19 update from Coastal Health District Director Dr. Lawton Davis. Following the update, which largely surrounded the ongoing local vaccination efforts, Ellis said he has volunteered to receive the vaccine publicly to help combat the skepticism surrounding it and encouraged other commissioners to do the same.