As citywide Columbus councilor leaves, a new representative takes the seat
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Columbus Councilor John House nominated local businessman and civic leader Tyson Begly to succeed him as council’s citywide representative for Post 10.
Begly, 42, was approved by a council vote, with only Councilor Bruce Huff voting no. Huff said he had promised to nominate Ku’Wonna Ingram. Ingram ran for Georgia House District 137 in 2012, challenging incumbent Debbie Buckner.
Superior Court Judge Arthur Smith III swore Begly in immediately.
Begly was CFO and COO of Delta Data, which provides back-end solutions for mutual funds, before another company acquired it in 2021.
He’s 42, and lives in midtown with wife Bekah, and children Hudson and Amelia. He was valedictorian of his graduating class in Enterprise, Alabama, in 1998, and has a bachelor of computer engineering degree with honors from Auburn University and a master’s in business administration from Duke University.
He joined Delta Data in 2013, after working seven years as a management and technology consultant. He has been through Leadership Columbus in 2016-2017 and Leadership Georgia in 2022, and chaired the board of the nonprofit Open Door Community House.
He chaired the city’s Public Safety Advisory Commission through the merger of the marshal’s office with the sheriff’s office. He also served as revenue and budget subcommittee chair for the city’s Charter Review Committee, where he pushed for changes voters approved in the November 2022 election.
He currently serves as secretary and treasurer of the Columbus Development Authority.
House caring for wife
House last week said he was resigning to take care of his wife, Marilyn.
“Marilyn’s Alzheimer’s has just continued to slowly but surely get worse, and her condition has gotten to the point where I can’t adequately take care of her and serve the city of Columbus the way I think the city should be served.”
House has been one of the 10-member council’s two citywide representatives for almost five years.
He won the special election in 2018 to fill the rest of Skip Henderson’s term as Henderson was elected mayor. House was re-elected to a four-year term in 2020.
Begly will fill the seat until it is up for election in 2024
In May 2024, voters will see the council seat twice on their ballots, said Muscogee County elections director Nancy Boren:
They will elect a candidate to serve the remainder of the seat’s term, which expires Dec. 31, 2024.
They will elect a candidate to serve the seat’s next four-year term that starts in January 2025.
The same candidate can run in both races, Boren said.
So far three candidates have declared their intent to run for the council seat next year:
Patrick Leonard filed his notice of candidacy on July 28, 2022.
Rocky Roy C. Marsh Jr. filed his notice this past Feb. 27.
Travis Chambers filed notice on March 2.
Like Ku’Wonna Ingram, Chambers also challenged state Rep. Debbie Buckner in 2012.
House’s service
Like his replacement, House, 69, also was a valedictorian, for the Class of 1971 at Columbus High School. He retired from the U.S. Army in 2001 as a colonel after 26 years of service.
He since has worked for several defense industry consulting companies and also was a part-time public administration instructor at Columbus State University.
He ran for Congress and won the Republican nomination in the 2012 primary, then lost to U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, in the general election.
His wife Marilyn was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in December 2021. They will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in September.
“I feel like I’m blessed to have her by my side,” he said last week. “She’s been hanging with me for a long time. It’s my time to take care of her.”
