DeKalb County said goodbye to a combined 120 years of experience this past week as 10 members of the county body attended their last meeting.

“I’ve served a long time and the best things in this job are the people I’ve met over the years,” said long-time commissioner Larry Summers, offering a piece of advice for the 10 newcomers who will take office Sept. 1. “Be humble and take good care of our county.”

Summers served on the county commission for 38 years and was the senior member of the commission. He was one of seven commissioners swept out of office during a wave of change that began during the Democratic Primary in May when five incumbents lost. Three more met the same fate in August, including Summers.

“I’ve served a lot of years despite not caring much for elections,” Summers admitted as he bid farewell to him fellow commissioners in his final meeting this week. “That’s a lot of elections over the years.

Summers served 1978 to 1990 and then 1992 to 2018. His fellow in the district, Kevin Robinson was defeated in May after serving one term.

The second most senior member of the commission, Wayne Cantrell had served as commissioner from the fourth district since 1994. He was defeated in the May primary. His fellow fourth district commissioner, Jonathan Norris was defeated in May after serving one term of office.

Other veteran members bidding farewell this past week included Mason Carter who did not seek reelection. Joe Johnson from the second lost in the primary after serving 11 years while Jimmy Midgett did not seek reelection after his single term.

He was appointed to fill an unexpired term and then was elected to one term. Altogether, Johnson has put in 11 years on the commission.

Bradley Hendrix had eight years of experience and did not seek reelection in the third while Jack Barton, with 11 years of experience, was defeated in the primary. 

In the sixth district, Betty Atnip had her last meeting on the commission as she lost reelection.

Of the entire commission, only four will be returning. They include Julie Williams Young, a Democrat will be starting her first full 4 year term on the commission from the first district. She has been on the commission since 2016 after being elected to fill the remaining two-year unexpired term of her predecessor Elmer Ellis, Jr. who resigned earlier that year. Also returning is fifth district members Anita Puckett and Jerry Adcock. Adcock will be starting his third term and Puckett her second. 

Now the most senior of the commission is sixth district member Jeff Barnes has been on the commission for 16 years and will be starting his fifth term.

All outgoing members of the commission were presented plagues of appreciation by County Mayor Tim Stribling during their final meeting.

“I want to sincerely thank you for your serving to the county,” Stribling said. “We may not have agreed on everything but at the end of the day we got along and did what was best for the county