January 8th Mayor and Council Meeting Notes
Thursday, January 8th, 2026
The Dalton Mayor and Council met in a special called session Thursday morning. The meeting was originally called in order to hold a second reading of an ordinance to annex a property into the City, but the Council also took the opportunity to issue a call for a special municipal election on March 10th to fill the vacant Ward 2 Councilmember seat. That seat was vacated Tuesday by the resignation of Nicky Lama, who stepped down in accordance with state law to run for Congress.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO OF THURSDAY'S MEETING
On Tuesday morning, Governor Brian Kemp called for a special election March 10th to replace former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene who resigned Monday as Georgia's 14th district representative. Former Councilmember Lama, who had previously announced his intention to run for the seat, resigned later Tuesday evening to allow City leaders adequate time to organize a municipal election the same day to replace him as the Ward 2 representative. Georgia law requires officeholders to resign their posts before qualifying to run for another elected office if the term of that new office would overlap with their existing term. On Thursday morning, the Mayor and Council voted 2-0 to call for the municipal election March 10th to coincide with the Congressional election. Councilmember Tyree Goodlett was not present and Mayor Annalee Sams typically only votes in the event of a tie. The resolution calls for a qualifying period for candidates which will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, January 12, 2026; 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 13, 2026; and 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 14, 2026 at City Hall in the City Clerk's Office. To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.
Caption: Councilmember Dennis Mock and Mayor Annalee Sams listen during Thursday morning's special called meeting of the Mayor and Council
The Council also voted to approve Ordinance 26-01 which annexes a property at 1822 Chattanooga Road into the City of Dalton. The property was previously an unincorporated island surrounded by properties already incorporated by the City. The parcel is being purchased by a new owner who is also purchasing areas that were already incorporated, and the annexation request was made to create uniformity in the parcels. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the request. To read a summary of their meeting, click here. To read the staff analysis, click here. The ordinance was given a first reading at Monday's regularly scheduled Mayor and Council meeting, and it was scheduled for a second reading and vote in this morning's called meeting to accommodate the new property owner's timing issues with closing on the property. The Council voted 2-0 to approve the annexation. To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.
Click "Play" in the window below to watch Thursday morning's meeting
