Difficult Night For The Thomaston City Council

In a somber council chamber, with a very obvious empty chair, Mayor Hays Arnold called to order the Thomaston City Council for the first time without Ed Bell sitting to his left. Council member Patsy Perdue took a moment to read a poem that she adapted from one by Robert Browning in honor of Bell.

I walked a mile with him,
He chatted all the way,
He left us more the wiser with all he had to say,
We now walk a mile with sorrow,
And never a word said he,
But oh the things we learned from him,
When sorrow walked with me.

Mayor Arnold had to excuse himself for a few moments to gather his emotions, each council member spoke of their experiences and how Ed Bell had impacted their lives, not only on the council but personally.

Mayor Pro Tem Doug Head said that Bell was, “An incredible community supporter, kind and generous and that time will magnify what he has done for this community.”

Councilman Gary Atwater said that he would miss Bell’s council and guidance that he had come to count on so much for the last ten years.

City Attorney Joel Bentley lives next door to Bell and stated that he already misses him in a way that he wouldn’t have thought possible. He ask that everyone reach out to the Bell family and support them as Ed always did to everyone in the community.

Mayor Arnold spoke about how sometimes you stumble onto people that you wish you had known better, “Ed Bell had become a close friend over the past eight to ten years and had a tremendous impact on me personally. He was a political force in the community and had the audience of governors, senators and representatives. The rest of us will have to pick up and try to fill the void of the vacancy left by Ed Bell.”