City Council Remembers Kelly Carter

A seat was noticeably empty during a called meeting Monday of the , with the nameplate in front of it adorned with a black ribbon.

Dallas councilmen gathered Monday night for the first time after the , who had served on the council for nearly 22 years.

“It’s a sad day in the city of Dallas,” said James Kelly, who had served on the council with Carter for the last eight years. “He’s always been an honest, respectable gentleman, and he will be greatly missed by the city. He’ll be hard to be replaced.

“We know that he’s in a better place now after going so long, being in a wheelchair and being a quadriplegic like that. He has endured it well, and that has a lot to say for him as a person,” Kelly added. “I’m sure there were days where this was the last place he wanted to be, yet he was always here—the only time he hadn’t been at a meeting or fulfilled his duties as a councilmember was when he was either ill or had to be in the hospital, so he was one that you could always count on, always responsible and being here.”

“We lost an honest, great councilman, a wonderful citizen for the city of Dallas, and a true friend,” Councilman Michael Cason said following the meeting, adding that he had been on the council with Kelly for nine years but had known him all his life. “He’ll be surely, surely, missed.”

In a statement sent to Dallas-Hiram Patch prior to Monday’s meeting, Dallas Mayor Boyd Austin mourned the loss of the city’s longest-tenured elected official and someone he called one of Dallas most ardent supporters.

"More importantly, I have lost a friend and a confidant,” Austin added. “The Council has lost a valued member who was a friend to all, and who always stridently fought for his beliefs. His strength and courage were epitomized by his zeal for life. He never lamented his condition, but valiantly fought for life and for good."

Austin during the meeting said the city’s charter allows for the appointment of someone to fill Carter’s seat, but officials had yet to form a plan of action for filling it.

Carter’s family is holding visitation at in Hiram today from 4 to 8 p.m. Funeral services are set for Wednesday at 3 p.m. from the funeral home; interment will follow in Dallas Memory Gardens.

In lieu of flowers, supporters are asked to make donations to Paulding Child Advocacy Center Inc., P.O. Box 703, Dallas, GA 30132.