Shelly Echols is now Hall County's District Three Commissioner, and she went through her first two meetings on the job last week.
Echols, a Republican, defeated incumbent Scott Gibbs in 2018's commission primary before running unopposed in November's general election. She said it was a busy first week.
"It's gone very well," Echols said after Thursday's voting session. "I've certainly enjoyed learning and working with everybody."
Echols is the lone newcomer to 2019's county commission. The only other commissioner up for re-election, District One Commissioner Kathy Cooper, won her primary and general election to secure another term.
Echols said she has received a lot of input from the community in her first week.
"The phone's been ringing a good bit," Echols said. "A lot of people have issues with their roads and I was warned that that would be the top call I get and I've spend a lot of hours talking about roads."
Echols said that traffic as well as development are her main focuses as she starts her term.
"I just want to make sure that that [Highway] 365 Corridor, that we encourage smart growth and development," Echols said.
Echols' first motion as a commissioner was to approve a rezoning to allow for a distribution warehouse at the intersection of Athens Highway and Roy Parks Road in the Talmo area. That motion was approved unanimously.
