By Sherri Blevins
On November 16, 2022, first-term Commissioner Ron Saferite, second-term Commissioner Lester Black, and elected for the eighth time, Commission President Rickey Harcrow took the oath of office to serve DeKalb County for the next four years.
Judge Jeremy Taylor administered the oath of office to newcomer Ron Saferite. After the ceremony, Commissioner Saferite thanked his supporters, saying, “I just want to thank everybody for giving me this opportunity and for everyone who helped get me elected because I certainly couldn’t have done this on my own. I can’t name everyone that helped, but there were so many of them, and they don’t know how much I appreciate them. I hope I can make them proud of what I do while I am in this office. I am going to do it to the best of my ability. If I can help anybody with anything, feel free to call me. I appreciate everything.”
Judge Shaunathan Bell presided over Commissioner Black’s oath. Black stated, “I want to thank all my friends and everybody that got out and helped me during this campaign. It is a lot of work, but the trust that people put in you pays off. Thanks again to everybody that did that and everybody that is here.”
Before Judge Andrew Hariston administered the oath to President Harcrow, Harcrow stated, “I want everyone here to know that this book I hold here in my hand is my family Bible. My ancestors brought this from Scottland. It was printed in 1764, making it 258 years old. It has been on display at our DeKalb County Library under glass. The reason I am using it is that the same thing that is written here is the same thing I preach every Sunday. The principles haven’t changed, times and people have, but the principles haven’t changed. I thank you and Judge Hariston for being here today.”
After the ceremony, President Harcrow took the opportunity to share his thoughts with those present. Several friends and family members including his newly arrived two-week-old grandson, along with colleagues and staff, shared the experience. After thanking all the commissioners, he served with in the past and the current commission, he reminded everyone of a statement Commissioner Wootten made several years ago. He said, “DeKalb County was one of the most financially sound counties in Alabama, ranking in the top five. That didn’t mean we had all the money we needed, but that meant that our course was good and successful. With the help of our staff and our administrator all these that put all this together, we are going to continue that course. The ups and downs that we have gone through, and we’ve had many of them, have made better people out of us. I come here before you today with humility in my heart because the people I address today who are my friends, I want to thank you so much for being such a help to me. I have made miserable messes out of a lot of things (and so have you, he added jokingly.)
Harcrow then shared with those present about an event that changed his life. He said, When I was 24 or 25 years old, I had something like a stroke. We never did figure out what it was, but I had to stay in the hospital in Birmingham for several weeks. It affected me in a lot of ways, and I felt at that particular time that everything I had planned on had come to an end. But then I thought about this scripture, and I preached on it so many times; Proverbs 27:1 “Boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” He spoke of other life-changing events he had experienced – the assassination of President John Kennedy, 9-11, the COVID pandemic, etc. He said, “But through all those changes we had to go down, our people, our county, our state, and our commissioners stood together in such a way that I realize didn’t please everybody. That’s not possible, but we did take the right course, and today I want to thank you as my family who has been so precious to me, and you who have been so faithful to me, and I sincerely ask that you pray for each commissioner because the times we are living in are changing. It is not like it was when I grew up. It is far different.”