Jan. 3--Uli Keller has no regrets.

"A lot has happened," he said of the four years he spent as a Glynn County commissioner.

He thinks the good far outweighs the controversies that popped up in that time, and is happy about the impact the commission is leaving on the county.

He credits the commission as a whole, not individual commissioners, along with the backing of county staff, with the progress made, which includes major upgrades to county buildings, combining the county and city's water and sewer departments and improving many roads.

"This commission, in the past four years, has been the most forward-looking I've ever seen," said Keller, who once worked for the county as an analyst. "We all had our own agendas, but they were all aimed at making Glynn County a better place."

Cap Fendig saw even more changes than Keller in the eight years he served on the commission. His list of highlights is long: improvements to county buildings, hosting the Group of 8 Summit in 2004, removing the toll from the F.J. Torras Causeway, passing two special purpose local option sales tax measures and more.

Fendig says that the best thing that came from him joining the commission, however, is his wife. He met her in his first month on the job when she was a temporary county worker.

Keller and Fendig left office at the end of December, having opted not to run for additional term.

A third commissioner, Carl Johnson, left office at the end of December after losing a re-election bid in the Republican primary to political newcomer Amy Callaway. Johnson, the former county fire chief, declined to discuss his tenure.

Keller, born in Germany, began working for the county in the late 1990s as an administrative analyst. He temporarily headed the county's water and sewer department and worked in the environmental quality department. Keller won election to the District 2 seat of Southern St. Simons and Jekyll islands in 2004, defeating Carlton DeVooght in a runoff election after DeVooght won more votes in three-candidate field in the general election.

He entered politics promising improvements to the Casino building on St. Simons Island and better water and sewer services, which both happened during his term. Upgrades to East Beach water lines and sewers on St. Simons Island are nearly complete, and all of Neptune Park on the island is getting a facelift that's slated to be finished by summer.

"An awful lot of stuff got done," Keller said.

St. Simons has been home to many of the projects championed by Keller.