By Barbara Augsdorfer, editor for the Effingham Herald

Kevin Exley was officially sworn in as mayor of Rincon at the beginning of the scheduled meeting Nov. 12. The meeting was moved to Tuesday due to the Veterans’ Day holiday.

Exley became mayor pro tem after Mayor Ken Lee resigned in spring 2023 citing family health issues. Lee had one more year on his term. Exley was the only candidate to qualify for a special election that was to be held Nov. 5; so the city requested the special election to be cancelled.  Exley will finish Lee’s term that expires in 2025 and may run for re-election if he chooses for a full four-year term.

Exley won a special election in September 2023 to finish Damon Rahn’s term after Rahn resigned in June 2023.

Exley had to resign his city council seat, which he did earlier on Tuesday. Planning and Zoning Chairman Tim Milner was sworn in to fill Exley’s council seat through 2025. Councilmember Mona Underwood was appointed mayor pro tem.

Exley thanked his family for allowing him to take on the responsibility as mayor, a responsibility he says he takes very seriously.

“I would also like to thank this wonderful council and our staff. They work hard; endless work that they do to move the city faster,” Exley said. “And since we've been in play, they've had to move it real fast, because we have pushed sometimes a little too much, and we pull ourselves back. We'll continue building this staff, this tremendous staff, under leadership of our new city manager, Mr. Robert Byrd.”

Exley then listed how the current council has worked to fulfill their campaign promises – the most notable being the construction of a second access point for the Picket Fences neighborhood.

“Elected officials can't hide here, and we make sure that we fulfill the promises that we give to our citizens. To name just a few before we get started -- Picket Fences emergency exit. That was 15 years promised. And we're about to break ground after one year of being in office,” Exley said.

Exley added that Macomber Park has had new upgrades, and that the city has spent $1 million on that park’s improvements.

“We got to provide a safe place and an adequate place for our youth, because when you’re not in school, you’re somewhere else,” Exley added.

Other parks the current council has been involved with include Patriot’s Park new playground, Veteran’s Park, which is currently under construction to be a center piece for the city that will honor the area’s veterans; and most recently Giles Park, which will become a new football facility.

Exley hinted at a new project that when it’s announced, “It’s going to change this whole community,” Exley said. He praised the golf course, which had only 63 members last September and now has more than doubled to 170 members, along with aesthetic improvements to the course, a new superintendent and pro shop manager.

“But the biggest promise that was made during my run, was to get the power back to council,” Exley concluded. “I said it during debates. And so now Council has that power. They have the power to govern, and they have leadership without bias.”