Chambers County Commission honors Debbie Wood
BY KADIE TAYLOR
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
CHAMBERS COUNTY — At the Dec. 22 Chambers County Commission meeting, County Attorney Skip McCoy shared a proclamation to recognize the impact Rep. Debbie Wood has had on Chambers County, to ensure her name is memorialized in the Chambers County Alabama records forever.
“[Debbie Wood] thought, maybe I can serve the people in Chambers County, even better if I can get down to Montgomery,” he said. “So she was bold enough and fearless enough to run for election for the House of Representatives District 38 — and she was successful. Debbie, I’ll always remember that drive that we took from LaFayette to Opelika when we were getting the polling results, but Debbie did that, and she went again in 2018 and ran again. The great thing about Debbie, though, is she always comes back to this room. When she was sworn in for the House of Representatives, she wanted to do it right here in this room. She didn’t want to go to Montgomery, she wanted to do it right here with her people. And she went to Montgomery, and she did not forget us. She did everything she could to help the county commission. She could relate to county commissioners across the state of Alabama, and she was a county lady — and for that, we very much appreciate her.”
Wood responded with appreciation for the recognition and reflected on many people she worked with over the years who made an impact on her.
“Those individuals all left a thumbprint, and they all gave me — I would say — insight and courage and strength, because sometimes we weren’t always getting along, sometimes we were fussing back and forth, but we all learned from each other, and what I learned was — we all come from different backgrounds, and we all have real issues,” she said.
Randy Hudson and Lynn Coker shared concerns with the Commission on behalf of the Chambers County Fire and Rescue Association regarding the time it takes for ambulances to arrive on the scene of accidents.
“Last month, we had a total of four wrecks for two fatalities — when can we see the possibility of getting ambulance service closer?” Hudson said. “One of the wrecks, the girl, it wouldn’t have mattered if we had an ambulance right there — the other girl, she might have had a chance if we could have got an ambulance there a little quicker. She was still breathing when we put her in the ambulance and when they left going to the hospital, but she expired before they got to the hospital. You’re looking at a 17 minute ETA from the time dispatch calls them till they get on the scene, sometimes that few minutes can make a difference in life, [like] with a heart attack or a stroke. If you ain’t never done CPR, 17 minutes doing a CPR will wear you out. With a stroke, you got an hour to get that patient to a facility and get them a shot to help try to counteract that stroke. [By the] time the ambulance gets there, we get them loaded, get a helicopter there, get them loaded, they got maybe 20 minutes to get to a facility.”
In Other Business
• The commission voted to approve the minutes and warrants payable for Dec. 8 and approve the Dec. 22 agenda as presented.
• The commission approved to renew Chambers County’s participation in the liability fund for the calendar year 2027 through 2029 and authorized the chairman to execute the participation agreement.
• The commission approved the amendments to the employee manual, with Commissioner James Williams abstaining.
Announcements
• The next commission meeting will be on Jan. 12 at 4 p.m.
• There will be a 2026 litter kickoff meeting on Jan. 28 at 10 a.m. at ALFA Insurance.
