County Commissioner William Cotton, in the wake of his conviction on federal bribery charges, submitted a letter of resignation from the commission on Monday.

Chairman Larry Henry said he received the letter that was delivered to the commission office.

Commissioner Cotton said in the letter, "Please accept this as my letter of resignation from the District 4 seat of the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners, effective immediately.

"I have enjoyed the opportunity to represent the citizens and interests of the district as well as Hamilton County."

Chairman Henry said the commission will advertise the vacancy for a 10-day period.

He said the panel will discuss the issue on March 9 at an agenda session. The commission is due to remain in recess so it can take action at that meeting.

Chairman Henry said the commission does not plan any formal interview process, but he said applicants could meet individually with commissioners.

He said, "The ones likely to be paid closest consideration to are the two candidates who have qualified" (for the upcoming election).

Those are Democrat Warren Mackey and Republican Brian Caldwell.

Sources said Mr. Mackey, a Chattanooga State professor, is expected to be named.

Mr. Mackey ran against incumbent Cotton in 2002 and lost by a narrow margin.

Stuart James, chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party, said, "I just learned that William Cotton resigned his position on the County Commission. As chairman of the Democratic Party, I commend Mr. Cotton on taking the swift action after his conviction this weekend.

"Many people have many different feelings about this conviction, and I am asking the community to pray for Mr. Cotton and his family. Mr. Cotton has taken the important first step, and I am glad that he swiftly took action for the good of the community. Mr. Cotton resigned, he took the appropriate action and now is the time for all of us to say a few prayers for Mr. Cotton regardless of our personal feelings toward him. Most important, we need to pray for his family.

"The County Commission now has the arduous task of filling the vacancy left by Mr. Cotton’s resignation. Mr. Cotton represents a Democratic district. Despite a Republican qualifying for office, District 4 is a Democratic district. The people of District 4 have consistently voted Democratic, and four years ago Mr. Warren Mackey lost by 34 votes. Mr. Mackey made the decision to run again this term, and is a deserving person for the position. He has shown a genuine interest in being on the County Commission, and ran four years ago because of his interest in the District 4 community.

"I hope that the County Commission seriously considers the vacancy, remembering how they filled JoAnne Favors' seat with a Democrat because the district is a Democratic district. There is no doubt that District 4 is a Democratic district and I would encourage the County Commission to consider filling the seat with the appointment of Warren Mackey.

"The Tennessee Waltz has adversely affected both Republicans and Democrats, but I sincerely believe that we can recover from the issues surrounding the Tennessee Waltz. I would hope that we will recover and move on by working to elect people who make the promise of helping others. I would hope that we elect individuals to office who believe in opportunities in education, opportunities created by bringing new employers to our community, opportunities in healthcare, and opportunities in improving our community and our government. We need leaders with the values that tell them that they are in office to serve the public good without regard to personal gain. We need leaders with common sense, common sense dictating that they are elected by the people to serve the people.

"I am going to say a prayer for Mr. Cotton. For those people in the African-American community who question the motivation of the prosecution of those African-Americans involved in the Tennessee Waltz, I ask you to stay involved with your community, and to stay involved in the political process. For those of you in our community who criticize those who question the motivation, I ask you to walk a mile in those peoples' shoes and try to gain an understanding of how they feel, and why they believe that the prosecution of African-Americans is suspect. Until we understand those who question the Tennessee Waltz based on race, we cannot find solutions to the divide that is between us.

"I, for one, thank Mr. Cotton for his service. Most important, I thank Mr. Cotton for doing the right thing by resigning today. I hope now we can move on and begin to restore faith in Hamilton County government and in our elected officials."