About 50 friends and family members of Monroe County Commission Chairman Greg Tapley were on hand Tuesday (Dec. 17) to celebrate the outgoing Chairman with a farewell luncheon at the Monroe County Conference Center.
At the conclusion of Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners’ meeting, Monroe County leaders held a celebration in Chairman Tapley’s honor, which was catered by Fresh Air BBQ. Chairman Tapley is slated to officially leave office on Dec. 31 after an eight-year stint on the Board of Commissioners.
Chairman Tapley received as a parting gift a crystal gavel, which was presented by District 2 Commissioner Eddie Rowland, who is the Board’s Vice Chairman.
All four of Chairman Tapley’s fellow Board members, including recently retired BOC member George Emami, gave remarks at Tuesday’s luncheon.
Commissioner Rowland said he appreciated Chairman Tapley’s leadership on the Board and said he agreed with Chairman Tapley about 90 percent of the time. He said many of the times they disagreed it turned out Chairman Tapley was right, but every now and then Commissioner Rowland said he changed the famously stubborn Chairman’s mind.
District 3 Commissioner John Ambrose said Chairman Tapley has “done an outstanding job for our county.” Commissioner Ambrose, who joked that he only agreed with Chairman Tapley about 70 percent of the time, said it will be hard to fill the outgoing Chairman’s shoes.
“You’ve been a great asset to the county and to other Commissioners who worked with you,” Commissioner Ambrose said. “And I look forward in the future that you serve our county in some form or shape because you’ve done a great job for the county.”
District 1 Commissioner Lamarcus Davis said Chairman Tapley mentored him when he first joined the Board in 2021. Commissioner Davis said he always appreciated Chairman Tapley’s skill with numbers as Chairman Tapley’s day job is in the insurance field.
Former District 4 Commissioner George Emami said Chairman Tapley has “a heart of integrity” and said Tapley has become a lifelong friend. Commissioner Emami said at least part of the reason why Chairman Tapley wasn’t re-elected was that he spoke out regularly against the local media coverage of the county.
“He was willing to go down fighting, basically call a spade a spade, and being real about something,” Commissioner Emami said. “And not making nice with somebody that, you know, again maybe he should have made nice with, maybe he shouldn’t have. But at the end of the day, for those of us who know the whole story, you kind of respect somebody that’s got the cajónes to do that.”
Commissioner Emami said Chairman Tapley “knows literally everybody in the state of Georgia,” and those connections have aided the Board. He cited instances where Chairman Tapley had immediate access to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp for needed assistance with county issues.
Forsyth Mayor Eric Wilson, a friend and business partner of Chairman Tapley, said the only real disagreements they have ever had were related to city-county politics. Wilson said he admired Chairman Tapley’s fight for the citizens of Monroe County and said Chairman Tapley’s intellect is what made him a good businessman and an excellent commission chairman.
Wilson said of Chairman Tapley: “He’s able to very quickly assess the situation and come up with a solution and look at all angles of a situation and how they’ll impact different people and how they impact the bottom line.”
Monroe County District Attorney Jonathan Adams said “the real pillars in Greg’s home” are Chairman Tapley’s wife Fran and son Pierce, each of whom were present at Tuesday’s luncheon. Adams said he knows from his military service how important a spouse and child are for daily support.
Adams said, “I just want to thank Fran and Pierce for your support of Greg.”
When it was Chairman Tapley’s turn to speak, he thanked his family, fellow Commissioners, and county staffers for being there to support him. Chairman Tapley said he wanted Monroe County to be a “team” when he took over as Chairman in 2017, and he feels he has succeeded.
Chairman Tapley said he didn’t originally plan to run in 2016, initially thinking Eddie Rowland was going to run for Commission Chairman. It wasn’t until days before qualifying that he learned from former Commission Chairman Harold Carlisle that Rowland had decided not to run, and Chairman Tapley felt a calling to take on the job.
Chairman Tapley said he plans to continue running his insurance agency and his ambulance business, but he said he wants to stay involved in politics in some way. He said he would eventually like to run for Monroe County Probate Judge should current Judge Donna Robins ever decide to retire.
Chairman Tapley noted that he, along with former commissioner Emami and Commissioner Rowland, grew up elsewhere but were elected in large part because they married into well-known Monroe County families. Chairman Tapley also pointed out that it was Commissioner Ambrose’s daughter Christi who was responsible for introducing Tapley to his future wife Fran.
Chairman Tapley closed his remarks by telling attendees: “Thank y’all for being supportive of me, and I’ve been supportive of y’all. And it’s been a good team the whole time.”
