Brooklet Mayor Pro Tem Brad Anderson presided over a brief swearing in ceremony for Mayor Nicky Gwinett and Post 1 Council Member Keith Roughton on Thursday evening, January 4, 2024 in Brooklet City Hall.
Joey Cowart, Brooklet City Judge administered the Oath of Office first to Council member Roughton and then to Mayor Nicky Gwinnett.
Council member Keith Roughton
Council member Roughton is originally from Sandersville, GA. He came to Statesboro to attend Georgia Southern in the Fall of 1988 and never left. He graduated from GS with a BS in Health Science in 1992, Masters of Science in 1995 and Master of Education in 1997.
Upon graduation with his BS he began employment in the GS Athletics Department in 1992 and continued until October 2023. He retired from GS on December 1, 2023. Roughton spent thirty years as an athletic administrator for GS. He moved to Brooklet with his family in May of 2014 and fell in love with the community. He is a volunteer youth sports coach with Bulloch Recreation and Coach of a youth travel baseball team.
He is married to Kim K Roughton and they have a son George Roughton. He also has step-daughters" Nella Williams-Martin (Josh), Sunni Williams, Libby Williams and granddaughter Emmie Martin.
"I am honored to be able to do this. I do view this as community service. I am humbled to have this opportunity to serve this community. I have lived here nine and a half years with my wife and children and we truly love Brooklet. I want to give back and I know we have a lot of opportunities and challenges ahead of us with all of the growth. I look forward to being prudent and thoughtful as I serve this community," said Council member Roughton.
Mayor Nicky Gwinnett
In his second round on City Council, Brooklet native Nicky Gwinnett completed what has ben a life long dream when he took the Oath of Office becoming Mayor of the City of Brooklet. He has just completed his second term as a City Council member. The first four year term he served was over two decades ago. Gwinnett is now the only life long resident of Brooklet serving on the Council. He is the owner of Kitchen Craft Cabinets in Brooklet.
"I want to thank everyone who has encouraged me and supported me in becoming Mayor. It means an awful lot to me. We have to develop a plan of action of where we want to go and grow as a city. Things like where to put water lines, where are we going to possibly consider annexing. We have a lot of decisions to make in a short hurry," said Mayor Gwinnett. "Bringing sewer to the City is a big deal. With the new high school coming we will need to look at expanding our waters sytem as well and possible adding another well and another water tower."
