Lee Commissioner Bill Williams passes away

LEESBURG — The man known as the architect of the Lee County budget over the six-plus years he served as a commissioner in the county has died. Bill Williams, who passed away over the weekend at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, was 64.

Williams, a partner in the Garland Williams & Associates CPA firm, was remembered by his fellow Lee commissioners as “one of the kindest men you ever met.”

“Whether it was a Lee County taxpayer who was having trouble paying his or her bill or a stray animal that needed food, Bill was a man who protected those who had no defense,” Lee Commissioner Rick Muggridge, who joined the county governing board in 2009, the same year as Williams, said. “He had the biggest heart for animals and our animal shelter.”

To honor Williams’ legacy and love of animals, the Lee County Animal Shelter will waive its typical adoption fees for the remainder of March.

County Commission Chairman Billy Mathis also praised Williams for his kindness.

“Everyone knew Bill was smart,” Mathis said Monday, “but those of us who got to know him well knew he was one of the kindest men we ever met. If everyone was a little more like Bill Williams, the world would be a better place.”

Williams, who conducted governmental audits for agencies throughout the state, got into politics almost by accident. He obtained a copy of the county’s 2007 budget and, before the County Commission at that time voted to approve the spending plan, found a $1 million error. That’s when Williams decided to make a run for office.

He was elected in the Redbone District and served a four-year term from 2009-2012, but a growing issue with garbage collection and billing in the community — as well as the opposition of a formidable foe, retired Marine Greg Frich — saw him voted out of office in 2013. But when Frich decided at the end of his term not to seek re-election, Williams again ran and was elected for another four-year term.

“Bill Williams knew this county’s budget backwards, forwards and inside-out,” Muggridge said. “He righted the county’s financial ship when it really needed it. Bill and I were elected for the first time the same year, and I got to know him going to new commission classes. It didn’t take long to realize how dedicated a public servant he was.

“When Bill said he looked at every line of the budget, he looked at every line, with a fine-toothed comb. He started the commission’s practice of meeting with all department heads during budget time so that they would have the opportunity to justify their budget requests. He was a zealot for looking after taxpayer money in the best sense of the word.”

Funeral arrangements for Williams had not been set by The Herald’s press time, but Lee County Elections Supervisor Veronica Johnson said a special called election would be held to replace Williams on the commission. Georgia law states:

When a vacancy occurs in the office of a county governing authority in any county in which the local act creating that governing authority for the county makes no provision for succession to fill the vacancy and the unexpired term of office exceeds six months in duration, it shall be the duty of the judge of the probate court of the county to call a special election to elect a successor and fill the vacancy in not less than 30 nor more than 60 days. The election shall be held as provided by Chapter 2 of Title 21, the “Georgia Election Code,” and the cost of the election shall be defrayed by the proper county authorities.

Lee County Probate Court Judge Melanie Gahring will officially set the date for the special election. Johnson said the third Tuesday of June, June 18, is the first date that would meet state law requirements.

Mathis said that while Williams’ financial knowledge would be missed during the commission’s budget meetings over the next few weeks, it’s Williams’ kindness that would be missed most.

“Somewhere in Heaven right now, Bill Williams is helping somebody out with numbers,” the commission chairman said. “He was a master at that, and we will miss him.”

Gypsy Crow