UPDATE: Wednesday, June 17, 2:08 p.m.: Adds Stevens, Ricketson, Odom comments; adds clarification about Baker’s comment on serving on the LCPC.
Liberty Consolidated Planning Commission Vice-Chair Larry Baker has upset longtime Liberty County District 1 Commissioner Marion Stevens, who has served seven terms and almost 28 years in that seat since 1999. Baker, a Democrat, will face Republican Michael Cook in the Nov. 3 general election.
With all 9 precincts in District 1 reporting, Baker won the Democratic general primary runoff by 51.95% or 574 votes to Stevens’ 48.05% or 531 votes, a difference of 43 votes.
Of those votes, only 73 were cast on Tuesday – 48 for Baker and 25 for Stevens. In advance voting, Baker got 305 votes to Stevens’ 285. Baker also got 40 mail-in ballots, while Stevens got 25.
District 1, which includes 26,553 of Liberty County’s 45,143 registered voters, saw a turnout of 1,115 in this race – that’s 4.2% of the district.
All numbers are unofficial and incomplete until certified by the Georgia Secretary of State.
Clarification: No resignation, for now
Baker said he intends to keep his appointed seat on the LCPC board, but “put more attention on the county seat itself.”
The Current GA asked Baker whether he had to resign upon starting another position as commissioner.
“I asked that question before I qualified,” he said. “I asked [LCPC Executive Director] Jeff [Ricketson] and he told me I didn’t have to.”
Asked whether he could hold both positions because one was appointed, Baker said, “Right. That’s right.”
The Current GA is seeking further clarification directly from Baker and will update with his comments.
Baker would not have to resign his seat on the LCPC board before the November 3 election. However, should he win the November 3 general election, he would need to resign from the LCPC board.
Asked for clarification by e-mail Wednesday, Ricketson said, “Commissioner Baker, like Tim Byler before him, asked me if he could continue to serve on the Planning Commission while running for office. My answer was (and still is) yes.”
Ricketson explained, “The Planning Commission bylaws and the UDO and the Intergovernmental Agreement that created the LCPC explicitly prohibit Planning Commissioners from holding elected office in Liberty County, Allenhurst, Flemington, Hinesville, Midway, Riceboro and Walthourville. It is silent on candidacy for office. Therefore, our policy has been that our Planning Commissioners who get elected to a local office can remain on the Planning Commission until they are sworn in to the office for which they were elected. That said, if Planning Commissioner Baker wins election to the BOC in November, he will be disqualified from serving on the Planning Commission upon being sworn in to the BOC.”
Similarly, LCPC Board Chair Phil Odom told The Current GA Wednesday, “Georgia law does not prohibit a planning commissioner from running for or being elected to a county commission. The legal requirement is that the person MUST resign from the planning commission before being sworn in as a county commissioner. This is done to avoid conflict of interest.”
LCPC’s bylaws, the county’s Unified Development Ordinance, and LCPC’s intergovernmental agreement all specifically state that no commission member shall be an employee or elected official of a local government.
Under Georgia law, county officials are not allowed to hold more than one county office at the same time unless the Georgia Assembly carves out a specific exception.
Ricketson also pointed out that “multiple planning commissioners” have gone on to elected office, including Flemington Mayor Tim Byler, former Hinesville mayor Jim Thomas, and former Midway councilmember Melice Gerace.
Former Midway mayor Levern Clancy also serves on the LCPC board.
“Looking and learning”
Baker said he’s been using his time on the LCPC, “because I’m coming from a different set,” to learn how the county works. But the difference, he added, is “not too much. Because all the municipalities work well with the county, and then when LCPC puts their stuff in motion, we come out almost even.”
For example, “there’s drainage and water problems all over Liberty County. And then today, we had an LCPC meeting and it was water and drainage. But we got it taken care of. We don’t do anything to put the county in a position. When Jeff Ricketson’s team goes out, they make a good recommendation, and we usually follow their recommendations.”
Asked for his thoughts about the controversy over the Liberty County Development Authority’s membrane bioreactor wastewater treatment plant, which would send some highly purified wastewater to an as-yet undetermined discharge site, Baker said, “That water plant is something that is already in motion and there’s not too much I’ve got to say about that. Again, I’m in a looking and learning position right now.”
As for the issue of Riceboro as an afterthought in the discussion about where to send that discharge, Baker said, “In the last two weeks, I just got that information about the water. I said, I don’t really know anything too much about it. Again, looking and learning.”
Baker’s message to Stevens: “You ran a good race. It wasn’t nothing personal anyway; it was running for the position. I wanted to stay in politics, and again, District 1 goes into Walthourville, so I’m still there.”
Baker takes on a powerful new role in county government after losing the Walthourville mayor’s seat to longtime councilwoman Sarah B. Hayes in 2023. Since then, he was appointed to the LCPC, where former Midway mayor Levern Clancy also landed after losing that seat to Malcolm Williams.
Baker will report to almost 59% of the county’s registered voters. “This district is big!” he exclaimed. “But nobody comes out to vote. I think 1,000 people voted. And in the early voting, 2,000.”
Baker had prepared a victory speech, which read in part, “This journey was bigger than politics – it was about people, about fairness, transparency, and building a better future for District 1…. Thank you to everyone who made phone calls, shared flyers, spread the message, attended events, and stood proudly beside me. Because of you, our campaign was built on unity, hope, and a desire to see District 1 move forward together.”
The Current GA left a voicemail for Stevens seeking comment Tuesday night. Asked Wednesday if he wanted to comment on the race, Stevens said, “No, not really. If the people have spoken, that’s what we go by… you’ll see where it goes from here.”
Despite his long tenure and his consistent pushing for infrastructure improvements, Stevens lost some votes after he and Valencia Stevens were arrested in April and charged with two felony counts of first-degree cruelty to children. Stevens continued to campaign but was unable to recover from the political damage.
Because the investigation is ongoing, no trial date has been set. A grand jury must consider all the evidence before deciding whether or not to indict either Stevens; both are considered innocent of the charges unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Stevens, a Midway native and Army Airborne veteran, worked his way up from machine operator, studying mortuary science and becoming a licensed embalmer and funeral director. He worked for Gulfstream Aerospace and retired from International Paper in 2017. A certified volunteer firefighter and medical responder, Stevens also served on the Liberty County E911 Board before winning his first term as District 1 commissioner in 1998. Governor Roy Barnes also appointed Stevens to the Georgia Probation Board that year.
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