>> STATEWIDE POST
Baldwin County Commissioner Henry Craig was sworn in as president of the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp at the ACCG’s annual conference held at the Savannah Convention Center, May 6.
“I am honored and humbled that the 800 commissioners of our state have supported me to be the president and have given me this great responsibility,” said Craig.
According to the ACCG website, ACCG is the consensus building, training and legislation organization for county governments in Georgia. The organization represents about 800 county commissioners between 159 counties.
Craig has now been sworn in and honored as the new president of ACCG and will be taking on this new position alongside his work as a commissioner. Craig was elected into the Baldwin County Board of Commissioners in 2012. He served as the chairman of the Board of Commissioners from 2019-2022. During his time as chairman, Craig won a number of national and international awards, showing the strength and experience he has as a leader.
“The best thing that has prepared me to be involved with ACCG in this position is the education that is provided through the University of Georgia and Carl Vinson Institute of Government, which is offered to any county official. It provided me the education, the expertise and the knowledge to not only be able to lead in Baldwin County but be prepared to work with all the counties of Georgia,” said Craig.
Craig has a history serving ACCG. He recently served as the vice president of ACCG’s board of managers and currently serves on the ACCG executive committee. In the past, according to the Baldwin County Board of Commissioner’s newsletter, he served on the ACCG Finance Committee, ACCG Personnel Committee, ACCG Policy Council, Economic Development & Transportation Policy Committee, the General County Government Policy Committee, the Health & Human Services Policy Committee, and the Revenue & Finance Policy Committee. He also was notably recognized as the 2016 ACCG Leadership Advocate of the Year and, in 2019, as the ACCG Legislative Advocate of the year.
“I have worked with ACCG in different avenues since I was elected into the Baldwin County Board of Commissioners in 2012,” said Craig. “I am honored to now represent the association as president and look forward to making an impact.”
As president, Craig stated he looks forward to working with leaders from all over Georgia about issues important to Middle Georgia and being able to advocate for Baldwin County and Milledgeville. Craig also wishes to use this opportunity to continue to advocate for mental health care across Georgia.
“As part of my speech at the convention, I spoke about my advocacy for mental health care for Georgians. The governor knows I am very concerned about it and we have met briefly several times about its importance,” said Craig. “This is an issue important not just to middle Georgia but every county.”
According to Craig, mental health care has been in a financial crisis for many counties and remains a safety risk throughout the state.
“These are issues very important to me and I have created a Mental Health Task Force within the ACCG. We had our first meeting on May 4 and have prescribed the five committees we are going to develop to start deciding how we can move the needle to improve mental health in Georgia,” said Craig.
In their first meeting, Craig stated the group discussed where to start their investigation and agreed there is a need to map all the resources in each county. He wants to ensure leaders are committed to making the resources available and that the community knows what is available.
“We’ve begun with finding the resources we need and the data we need,” said Craig. “There are two main issues in Georgia to note as we go through this process. That is one, policy, and two is resources. Everything Georgia needs to do is based on these two foundations.”