It didn't take long for County Commission Chairman Richard Oden to insure that he would have control of the economic and development arms of the county.

Oden appointed Gerald Sanders, his chief of staff, to the Development Authority. This spot should have been given to a private businessperson in the county; it didn't need Oden's personal guidance.

He also basically appointed himself to Conyers-Rockdale Economic Development Council board. This is interesting since Oden has shown disdain for this board in the past as he publicly trashed CREDC Executive Director Marty Jones for no reason except his own desire to control things.

We are also sorely disappointed in the vote of Mrs. Williams who assured us and the voters of the county that she was going to be an independent thinker and not follow the dictates of the Chairman; her first actions cause us to seriously doubt the validity of those promises.

Mr. Oden seems to feel that he has been ordained by some higher power that he and only he is the supreme leader of Rockdale County. We would like to remind him that there is an election coming up in 2016 and the ballot box has toppled many a political bully.