Two new Cumming City Council members took their oath of office and were sworn in by Municipal Court Chief Judge Rich Neville at January's Cumming City Council meeting.
Linda Ledbetter, who won the Post 5 Council seat in November with 53 percent of the vote, and Christopher Light, who won Post 4 with 39 percent, joined incumbent Councilman Lewis Ledbetter, who was re-elected into the Post 3 seat he has held since 1971. Councilman Ledbetter, who is the first cousin of Linda Ledbetter, ran unopposed.
Linda Ledbetter and Light replace John D. Pugh and Ralph Perry, both of whom retired from their long-held posts at the end of December.
Ledbetter, a retired educator, served one term on the Forsyth County Commission from 2005-08.
Mayor Ford Gravitt welcomed the new members, noting that Ledbetter told him she "is ready to work hard for the people of Cumming and Forsyth County."
The Mayor also said Light, an attorney with the local firm Lipscomb, Johnson, Sleister, Dailey and Smith, would be a good fit for the council.
Light's mother, Darla Sexton Light, is the chairwoman of the Forsyth County Board of Education.
Ledbetter and Light aren't the only new members on the Council. Chuck Welch, a local banker, won a special election to fill an unexpired Post 1 term in June.
Gravitt also thanked outgoing Councilmen John D. Pugh and Ralph Perry for their service and presented them with their marble council name plates. Perry joined the board in 1979 and Pugh has served since 1993.
"I couldn't ask for better friendships than Ralph and John D," Gravitt said. "They did a great community service, and we can all look around the city and see the fingerprints of these two gentlemen."
Click here to see photos from the individual swearing-in ceremonies for Linda Ledbetter, Christopher Light and Lewis Ledbetter.