Past president of the Greene County Chamber of Commerce and former Georgia legislator Terry Lawler has announced his intention to run for the District 1 seat on the Greene County Board of Commissioners.
The seat is currently held by retiring commissioner Angela Walker Deering, whom Lawler said he spoke with “about a year ago,” and shared with her an interest in running for her position if she opted not to seek reelection.
“When she announced her desire to step down, I received numerous calls from neighbors and business owners encouraging me to announce my candidacy,” Lawler said.
Lawler presently serves as chairman of the Lake Oconee Area Joint Development Authority, chairman of the Greensboro Downtown Development Authority, Greene County representative on the Northeast Georgia Regional Commission, chairman of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Greene County Courthouse, and he is the outgoing chairman of the First Methodist Church of Greensboro-Lake Oconee Board of Trustees.
If elected, Lawler said he will focus on reviewing and updating the county’s development ordinances, making public meetings more transparent through existing technologies, and initiating periodic town hall-style meetings in the district, to address concerns outside regular commission meetings.
“I’ve been attending monthly county commission meetings for almost 10 years, and two things that concern me are how our outdated county ordinances constantly constrain our commissioners, citizens, and businesses,” Lawler said.
“We should also take advantage of existing and new technologies to help keep our citizens informed about the work being performed by our elected and appointed officials. We can do a better job on both of those,” he stated. “I also want to work with our legislative delegation to address the projected daily increase of 500-plus container trucks traveling from the Port of Savannah on Hwy. 15 through White Plains, Siloam, and Greensboro.”
Besides being a former member of the Georgia House of Representatives, Lawler served in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War.
Additionally, Lawler served as a planning commissioner in the City of College Park, chairman of the Georgia Council on Adult Literacy, president of Georgians for Better Transportation, and executive director of the Regional Business Coalition of Metropolitan Atlanta.
During his tenure as a state representative, Lawler received a Five Outstanding Young Georgians Award from the Georgia Jaycees, an Honorary Lifetime Member designation from the Georgia PTA, was named Legislator of the Year by the Georgia ARC, and was made an honorary Lifetime Member of the Georgia Retired Teachers Association.
Lawler also represented multiple companies and agencies, including AT&T, MCI, the Georgia School Board Association, Encore Capital, Augusta Newsprint, and Underground Atlanta, before federal, state, and local governments.
He was also successful in getting legislation vetoed by Governor Chiles in Florida and in receiving a multimillion-dollar award for his client from a federal district court in Tennessee.
Lawler has co-authored two publications on population demographics and provided expert witness testimony on the addition of the fifth runway at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Lawler may be most remembered, however, for outlawing hazing on high school and college campuses, changing the funding formula for growing school systems, and outlawing “obscene” bumper stickers.
District 1 includes most of Greene County east of Highway 44, north of Richland Creek, and south of I-20. It includes Siloam, White Plains, portions of Greensboro, and the communities of Harbor Club, Veazy, Liberty, Flat Rock, Cherokee Point, and Granite Cove.
Terry and Gail Lawler live in the Harbor Club community.