Williamson Sintyl (Submitted Photo)
Williamson Sintyl said he’ll run against incumbent Andy Saxon for the District 2 seat on the Oglethorpe County Board of Commissioners.
Sintyl, 30 and a native of Haiti, was selected as the chairman of the Oglethorpe County Chamber of Commerce last month. Sintyl, his wife, Sharla, and their children (Tevin, Kai and Sidonie) live in Lexington.
“I believe that we all have power,” he said Monday. “With your power, you can use it to impact lives, change people’s lives and make change, but my power, I want to use it to serve my community. And because I love this community, that inspired me to serve this community. It’s impossible to serve people you don’t love or a community you don’t love.”
Sintyl said a resident talked to him about running for the District 2 seat. He said he prayed about it and other residents “started reaching out to me.” He announced his intention to run with an Instagram post last week.
“I truly believe that I can bring a lot of value to the community, whether through bringing businesses together, or taking people’s concerns to the board to discuss ways we can improve lives and make our community better,” he said Monday.
Saxon told The Oglethorpe Echo earlier this month that he will seek reelection.
Commission chair Jay Paul and District 4 Commissioner Will Brown also said earlier this month that they’ll seek reelection in the general primary, which is scheduled for May 21.
Qualifying for offices will begin at 9 a.m. Monday, March 4 and end at noon Friday, March 8. Candidates can register at the Board of Elections & Registration office (41 Fairground Road, Lexington).
Contact the Board of Elections office at 706-743-8954 for additional information.
Early voting has started for the presidential preference primary on Tuesday, March 12.
There have been 238 early votes cast in Oglethorpe County and 100 absentee ballots returned through Feb. 26, according to the Board of Elections’ website.