By Barbara Augsdorfer, Editor for the Effingham Herald

The Rincon City Council met in its regular meeting June 12. Former Councilmember Damon Rahn’s seat was vacant, as he had resigned his seat effective June 2; Councilmember Reese Brower was also absent. City Manager Jonathan Lynn’s seat was also empty as he was suspended from his post effective June 1. He has asked for an appeal hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

“We are looking at some dates that we want to present to Mr. Lynn, and once we are in agreement on a date, in our next meeting, which would be June the 26th, we would (set) a date for the appeal hearing at that meeting,” Rincon Mayor Ken Lee said.

“It’s still in the appeal process and there’s not a lot we can share at this point,” Lee added. Mayor Lee added the appeal date should be set within the time allotted for that process, which is 30 days from when Lynn said he wanted the appeal hearing, which was June 5.

Regarding Councilmember Damon Rahn, the council officially accepted his resignation at the meeting.

The date for the special election has not been set.

“By state law there are appointed dates (when) you can hold a special election,” Lee explained. “And so we'll have to come back, bring those dates and then we'll be able to determine exactly when the election needs to take place to fill that seat. He had approximately two and a half years remaining of his term. So that process would require a special election to fill that seat.”
According to the Georgia Secretary of State website, for the remainder of 2023, special elections can only be held June 20, July 18, Sept. 19, Oct. 17, or Nov. 7.

The municipal office candidate qualifying period is Aug. 21-25 for Nov. 7, which is a statewide scheduled municipal general Election Day.

Lee did not indicate if Rincon would schedule the special election for Rahn’s seat before November.