##VIDEO ID:xMkiqHEmbhk## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e good morning good morning can you hear me now still okay it's time that we go ahead and get started I know one of our judges has to be in aille at a certain time so we want to make sure that we do the best we can to have a great ceremony but also to get him on the road thank you for being here this morning um in this uh ceremony where we do the oath of office for our newly elected uh officials I got to start out first by saying a big thank you to my staff uh this is has been an extremely busy year for us this year and they've done a great job I also want to say a thank you to approximately 17 of my election workers do worked all over the county um between all of them I think we make a great team and we do our best to provide the best product the best elections in uh for putham County residents I would be remiss if I didn't thank my canvasing board uh Members First is Judge moris she has been the chair of our canvasing board since the year 20 000 as we when I used to go to cusing board workshops I used to say I've got a judge that not only is hands on but she has seen just about everything that could possibly happen starting with the gore in Bush situation of of 24 years ago so judge thank you for all your dedication also want to thank the County Commission representative U Leota Wilkinson Leota came in I sort of warned her a little bit about the three elections this year and how much meetings that we would have and she's done a great job and I just appreciate her so thank you Leota also want to thank our County cusing Board attorney George Young uh we always rely on his guidance to to help us when we come into a sticky situation and George does a great job and has a great knowledge of the laws here in Florida our two uh alternates uh wanted to mention retired Circuit Judge Ed hedstrom and also our County Administrator Terry Suggs so Terry thank you for that he filled in several times when I was gone or Leota was gone and so I appreciate that part of it and again it's a team a team effort is is what we try to do want to say thank you to our candidates um you know what I think we set a record I think we're around 40 candidates this year which is really something uh I want to uh compliment at each one of you each one of you should be proud for what you've did one just putting your name out to the public uh but you you understand now but a lot of times the public doesn't realize how much time and effort and money and stress that there is running a campaign and when it's successful it's okay and when it's not you just have to do the best you can to to live through it but thank you to our candidates and then finally I want to thank the voters of putham County two weeks ago today we smashed the record here in putham County usually if you break a record it's one or two percentage points but we did it by eight percentage points yeah we finished up with 80.5% and the best I could find before that was 72.7 so um thank you to putham County and you know guys that's the way it ought to be every election we ought to be in that 75 or 80% range all the time but unfortunately I have a pile of people say Charles I'll see you in four years and really we don't see them till the next Presidential so but to the to the voters I I say thank you to uh you're making the effort and uh participating in our process I can't close but without saying this you and I live in a great country and we have a lot of Rights and privileges but please remember this those rights those privileges that we enjoy came about because of the sacrifice of so many others you know there's that saying all gave some and some gave all and so you and I are here we can have this ceremony today and not worry about people coming and putting guns to our head and things like that that's what America is all about and so I I ask you as we go forward uh in uh in the future please remember to vote for either in honor or in memory of a veteran but please let your voice be heard so thank you again to putam County at this time we're going to open with a prayer and I'm going to ask my dad C URF Jr the minister at the college Road Church of Christ to come and lead us in prayer and then after that I've asked our County chairman uh commission chairman Larry Harvey and I think Miss Leota is going to join him and they're going to lead us in the pledge so Dad I'll turn it over to you let us bow please Holy Father what a wonderful privilege it is to come before you and in your presence to ask a blessings upon this assembly and upon that for which we came to honor those that are be soon our leaders again father let me thank all of those that voted and the privilege that they enjoyed and we're thankful for their interest above all father we pray for this nation and we pray that it may continue to be the kind of Citadel it is so that others may see what it means to live in a democracy and to live in a place where you can express your desires and your feelings again I personally in this audience want wants to thank all of those that have made this activity a success we're thankful for Charles and his staff we're thankful for the workers we're thankful for the canvas board all of those that help make it a success and we pray father for a continuation of this and father as we come today we come for the special privilege of seeing those who have been elected to take their oath of office we're thankful for those that will be serving as County Commissioners those that will be on the school board and likewise our superintendent of schools who continues to do a great job and now father may I give a couple of thoughts that you will guide guide these people that you will guide these people into the desire to do your will and thus be successful we thank you Father for these who are serving and those that will you that they will take time to study and to know what is best and that you will guide them in this and father we like I pray that you will help them to realize the needs of people and therefore be successful in serving them we likewise father ask you to serve with humility and to serve with the desire to be a servant and now father bless us as we further work and as we stay and live together that we may truly be the kind of people you want us to be may God bless us and keep us in his name of Jesus we pray amen Unice this morning we are honored to have two of our honorable judges here today to do the actual oath um judge a eleth moris who is County court judge group two and we also The Honorable Joe Boatright who is a member of The Fifth District Court of Appeals as you all know we have five districts and so we'll start with number one so that's why you see in the order of of the way it'll go this morning uh for your candidates are are soon to be officials U after the oath is you have the opportunity to come and introduce who your friends and family are and say what you want to so go ahead and uh be preparing for that elections are a time that we welcome people sometimes they're new but we also sometimes say goodbye to some that have served and so as we begin with County Commission district one I just want to take a moment to thank Mr Bill Pickins for his years of service to the community uh Bill's done a great job and we'll sad to see him go but we wish him the very best so if you will let so at this time we'll go ahead and you come forward and family and we'll start good morning how are yall this morning um before I I swear jrn um I just want to tell y'all that it has been my as Charles told you it's been my privilege to serve as canvasing board um chair in this for a long time and we have some really super smooth elections here and it's all because of Charles and his staff um the canvasing board does we do our thing but they do so much work behind the scenes that none of us ever know about so if you see them out and about shake their hand and thank them profusely for the wonderful elections that we have here in putam County all right so Jr uh let me just let you introduce folks this morning and then we'll get you morning my wife mother and father jaie and joh never seen Jackie and John newal in my life good morning how are y'all all right so if you will um raise your right hand put your left hand on the Bible here you go me I new bold I do solemnly swear do swear that I will support protect and defend that I will support that defend the Constitution and the government the constition and the government of the United States and of the State of Florida of the United States the State of Florida that I'm duly qualified to hold office that I'm D qualified to hold office under the constitution of the State under the constition of the state and that I will well and Faithfully that I will well and Faithfully the duties as putam County Commissioner perform the duties put County Commission on which I am now about to enter on I now about to so help me guide [Applause] congratulations all right and I'm gonna give this to you anything you'd like to say this morning just uh couple quick thank yous um i' like to express my love and my thanks to my wife bie and my mother and my father just that they've supported me in this endeavor and and all others in my life um I'd like to thank Bill Pickins he set a great example for me he's he's been a mentor and uh he has just done a fantastic job for putam County for district one and he will truly be a hard act to follow Bill thank you he I thank the citizens of putam County who have entrusted me with the task ahead um I'm excited I'm encouraged I've gotten a lot of support and I'm going to do my very best to to fulfill that thank [Applause] youat moving to District Two got a putam County School Board returning member longtime member David buckles David was superintendent of schools and for the last several years has been our school board representative for district too so David welcome what to do all right well good morning buckles crew how are y'all this morning good good all right uh David I'm Gonna Let You just quickly introduce your family I've goty W granddaughter that's a daughter Misty Woods she she's a daughter Davis is a grandson Taylor a granddaughter and my son Matt all right and is a teer with is teer many years jam and Miley is currently in her internship at all right the education family love that all right you want to come forward and put your uh raise your right hand put your left hand on the Bible repeat after me I David buckles I David buckles do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support protect and defend that I will support protect and defend the Constitution and government the Constitution and government of the United States and of the State of Florida of the United States and the State of Florida that I'm du qualified to hold office I'm duy qualified to hold office under the Conti of the State under the constitution of the state and that I will well and Faithfully perform and I will well and Faithfully perform the duties of putham County School Board member the duties of putam County School Board member on which I'm now about to enter on which I'm now about to enter so help me God help me [Applause] congratulations thank you judge been a long road it was a kind of a weird deal campaigning this year it's uh I won't go into details but we've got political subdivisions that kind of agitate each other throughout putam County and it creates a lot of problems but that's part of the process I will say that it's been a pleasure to to have served on the school board I enjoyed Mr over earlier and Mr newold with all the years that I've watched them perform uh like Mr over used to say I learn from some of the best and I learn from some of the worst so you take the good and you try to realize where the bad stuff is and you you weed that out but be Beyond it all it's about teaching and learning and serving to catho County thank you d all right moving along District three we've got two representatives from District three we'll start out with Board of County Commission and again this is a one that where we're saying goodbye to one of their leaders uh Terry Turner served for several years so Terry we want to say thank you for your leadership and we wish you the best uh but our newly elected member is Josh Alexander and I believe judge Boatright is going to come and do his so Josh if you want to bring you and your family up and we'll let judge boat right take [Applause] care all right good morning um so I'm gonna let Josh go ahead and uh introduce say family before we start miss this is my mother Jimmy Simons for those of you that don't know her there's probably not one in the room that doesn't brothering Rodney Michelle go ahead and raise your right hand on the Bible okay repeat after me I Josh Alexander I Josh Alexander do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support protect and defend will support protect and defend the Constitution and government the Constitution and government of the United States of the United States and of the State of Florida and of the State of Florida that I am duly qualified that I am duly qualified to hold office to hold office under the constitution of the State under the constitution of the state and that I will well I well and faithfully and Faithfully perform the duties perform the duties of putam county commissioner District 3 putam County Commissioner District on which I am now about to enter on I am now about to enter so help me God so help me [Applause] go wow they asked me to keep it short and sweet and that's what I'm going to do but I would be Miss if I did not thank the people that made this happen I look through this room and 90% of the people here I know and have known me longer than probably I've been alive some of you um Malcolm fa thank you buddy I really appreciate it this couldn't happen without my mother my brother and the rest of the folks you see up here where is my second mom Monique Branch there she is integral part of this and a huge part that we couldn't have done it without her um the way I look at this I'm a public servant you guys are my boss all I'm here to do is make this a better place and enact the policies and procedures that you guys request from me if you need anything I have an open door policy and I look forward to serving our community thank you now moving District three again to our school board this is a returning member Sandy as I call her has been serving for last several years and of course we know she was in the school system for all those years so we welcome her back so I'll say Sandy if you want to come up and bring whoever with you so that judge Mars can do the oath with you good morning lady how are you doing thank you so love it okay all right whoever you choose perfectly fine look at y'all all Co or coordinated Okay sandy win she brought the most [Laughter] people yeah all right Miss Sandy you want to introduce your family and friends yes this is my oldest brother wil Jun my I think she's my mama Regina my sister my sisters I want to introduce all of my sisters Lyn Roberts Sheree Clayton uh Patricia Johnson anel Sunshine NE my G tin G my cin patri Curry [Music] cousin iuce myter Brer my my my [Laughter] [Laughter] but she will all right and my niece and Henderson come my pastor flag look he's slinking up here here he comes oh before you get in trouble all right thanks Gina for showing me they hi all right ready now yes okay all right if you'll place your uh raise your right hand place your left hand on the Bible repeat after me I Sandra Gillard I Sandra Gillard do solemly swear do solemnly swear that I will support protect and defend that I will support protect and defend the Constitution and government the Constitution and government of the United States and of the State of Florida of the United States and of the State of Florida that I'm duly qualified to hold office duly qualified to hold office under the constitution of the State under the constitution of the state and that I will well and Faithfully that I will well and Faithfully perform the duties of putam County Schoolboard members the DU as of putner County School Board member on which I am now about to enter on which I'm now about to enter so help me God so help me God congratulations you keep this Sandy thank you all so much it is an honor to be a part of such a great family as this and I don't just mean my blood relatives but of putner County nor the place will I have rather or chosen to live even though as I told them earlier I was conceived in putner County but I was born in Neptune New Jersey I'll explain that if you care to know later it's just an honor and a privilege to serve again again as a school board member for District 3 three is just the number that's behind the district but I serve the entire District My Heart Belongs to putam County but most especially my heart belongs to the children of this great school district and I certainly have to give a shout out to Mr David buckles that saw something in me that others may not have seen and he gave me an opportunity I thank you and I want to thank God for the opportunity to to be here to do this and as I told them during my campaign I was created for this to serve I am a servant and I have a servant heart I want to thank my mentor pastor Pastor flag for encouraging me and and and giving me pointers on on things not just uh about living but in the ministry as I Pastor God's people uh to all of you I look up P the faces and as Josh stated about 90% I believe I got you Josh I'm older than you so I believe I know 99% of them and I thank you for this opportunity to serve again as was stated I work for you I don't mind if you need me call me I don't know everything but I know somebody that may know and then I can't help but give a shout out to one of the greatest superintendents I've ever had the opportunity to work with yes you David but also Dr Rick ceny and the vision he has for this school district and to have had the opportunity for the last four years to work with some of the greatest school boy members Holly Pickins B lirry just came on the scene to work with Linda Wagner and David buckles and all the others that have gone before because it takes all of us to make it work work one vote won't get it done it takes all of us and even if it does not go our way we have purposed in our heart that for the sake of our children we will still hold our heads up and push forward with whatever was chosen and so I thank each of you and I pray God's blessings upon this great County this great state and this great country God bless you I love you moving to District Five and again this is one where we say goodbye to a member Paul Adams sered for the last four years so we thank Paul for his service we're welcoming back in a sense a commissioner that used to be here uh and then was out for a little while and then came back so Walton pelis here if you'll come forward with your group and judge Boatright is going to do the honors for your [Applause] oath all right good morning again and uh Walt you want to introduce your family that's up here with yes this is uh my youngest daughter Brena my old Fon and my sister Pam Garris you go ahead and raise your right hand repeat after me I Walt PIR I wal P do solemly swear do Solly swear but I will support protect and defend I will support protect and defend the constitution of government the constitution of government of the United States of the United States and of the State of Florida and of the State of Florida that I am duly qualified and that I duif to hold office to hold office under the constitution of the State under the constitution of the state and that I will well and faithfully and that I will well and Faithfully perform the duties perform the duties of putam county commissioner District Five of putam county commissioner District Five of which I now about to of which I'm now about to so help me gu me [Applause] um as Charles said I'm I'm a retread or re has been whatever any I'm glad to be back um there's a lot of challenges facing our County coming up and I look forward to meeting those head on and driving our County in a positive direction that we can all be proud of um couple people that I need to mention that really helped and and big part of my campaign my uh Finance man uh David dwire um sitting beside him Marie Bennett um in Kaye Westberry somewhere there um big part of my team and a huge help um uh those of you that know me uh when something touches my heart I'm I'm a mush pot I'm not really good at it but uh in closing I know my dad is shining down with pride thank you and now we move to the school superintendent um it's very unusual because most of the constitutionals take office in January but the exception is the school superintendent and this uh Rick is serving will be starting his third term so Dr Cy if you and whoever else will come forward and judge Morris will do the honors [Applause] all right well good morning and um good morning Dr Cy and I'm give you the opportunity to introduce your family okay they might need name tag try to remember them all course my wife Penny and I'll just saw my granddaughter Cameron hter Chon cson K Anderson all right if you would uh place your uh left hand on the Bible and raise your right hand and repeat after me I rick Cy I rick Cy do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support protect and defend I will support protect and defend the Constitution and the government of the United oh excuse me the Constitution and the government the Constitution and the government of the United States and of the State of Florida of the United States and the State of Florida that I am duy qualified to hold office I am duly qualified to hold office under the constitution of the State under the constitution of and that I will well and Faithfully I will well and Faithfully perform the duties of putam County Superintendent of Schools of putam county superintendent of school on which I'm about to enter in which I'm about to enter so help me God so help me God congratulations congratulations thank you I think the neest thing about this whole ceremony is our young people can be here and see that and that's how we and to know my my young my grandchildren want to be here and I think it's really troubling them that they're missing school right now but U but I'm glad they suffice to be here but I'm very honored and I want to thank a few people of course my wife Penny who's been with me every step of the way and um really supported me and really kept track of everything and I I can't thank her enough and she's just been by my side uh we're going on 20 marriage so uh she's she's uh couldn't do it without her thank you Penny but all all my kids my grandkids and um you know all my entire family my parents um you know I owe it to them to be here but um I also want to thank uh gentlemen whose shoulders I stand on and that is CL over Turf Jr uh former superintendent and David buckles both of them are three- term superintendents and I'm just very honored to to follow in their footsteps and and talk to them all the time and always seek their wisdom and but you know what we we are part of a great school district and our district is continuing to get better because we have our children our children are coming up and they're going to be taking our place and we want to make sure that we pour into them and make sure we can do the very best we can so thank for your your trusting me thank you for uh just being part of this and and you know after I finish this term I'll have 50 years in education so um it is that's all I know how to do so I I love what I do so thank you Charles for everything and uh I appreciate everybody turning out [Applause] today again thanks to each and every one of it's it's great to see this room pack like it is today uh and I know every one of our officials that's going in office appreciate you taking the time making the effort to come and join them today at this time I'm going to ask uh my friend Pastor Terry Wright uh he's going to come and lead us in a closing prayer to thank God for the new ones and to wish them the best so Terry thank you Charles thank you let's pray together well father we love you so much and we thank you for today for your kindness for your goodness and father we thank you for the to live in putam County Lord a place that still has Community as evidenced by this so Lord thank you for allowing us as explosion growth happens all over the State of Florida father we as we've grown has been we've been able to keep our community and our friendships so Lord thank you for that and now father I pray for each person who will be taken office that Lord you will bless them and protect them Lord keep them healthy father I pray you surround with wise counsel with people who are supportive who will speak the the truth and love Lord just bless them with people around them and father I pray you protect their families Lord as things may be said about them that that are ugly and rude and and oftentimes not true father you protect the families Lord guard their hearts help them to stay uh stay committed to you and and and loving this community even if times rough father I thank you for for Mr sugs and his leadership uh here uh at the uh at the county Lord for Julianne Lord continue to be with them and bless them as they help guide our um our County administratively and Lord for again for each elected official touch them bless them and use them Father to do great things in the years ahead in Christ's name [Applause] amen e