Daron Lee resigns from Warner Robins council, citing ‘family obligations’

The first Black person to be elected to a citywide council post is stepping down effective Oct. 30, more than a year from when his four-year term expires.

Daron Lee, known for speaking his mind during council meetings, said in an email to Mayor Randy Toms that is resignation was “due to unforeseen family obligations and responsibilities.”

The city is expected to hold a special election in March, with candidate qualifying expected in February, according to Toms.

“I have indeed prayed and meditated on this decision in order to weigh the pros and cons leading to what is best for my well being,” Lee said in his resignation email. “Be assured that there are other citizens who have the ability, concern and compassion for the city of Warner Robins to serve and mirror through their commitment and dedication that Warner Robins is a great place to live and raise a family.

“Mayor Toms, it has been great serving with you and the other members of council as well. I pray that the service rendered did help create even a better working environment and increase the level of moral in municipal government,” Lee said.

Lee, who could not be reached for comment, told the Houston Home Journal that he has become the primary caregiver for his parents who have health issues.

Lee, a program coordinator at Central Georgia Technical College, also serves as the pastor of Agape Outreach Ministries on North Davis Drive in Warner Robins. His congregation celebrated his 15-year anniversary as pastor in August 2019.

In 2017, Lee made history as the first Black person to be elected to a citywide council post in Warner Robins. He previously has represented the district where he lives on council. He is among the grandchildren of Warner Robins civil rights icon, the late Ada Lee.

Daron Lee’s time on council has included controversy.

In 2018, Lee told The Telegraph he didn’t feel safe after he was told an employee allegedly threatened to shoot him after a heated meeting. A Houston County magistrate judge did not find grounds to issue a criminal arrest warrant against the employee, but scolded her for actions, WMAZ-TV reported.

In 2019, Lee reportedly commented on a disparity in how city employees are treated at a public meeting and specifically in emails to Toms about disparity in how Black employees are treated, according to WMAZ-TV reports.

While Toms and Lee have sparred in the past, Toms said he’s spoken with Lee who told him that his resignation was based solely his desire to care for his family.

“He just felt like because he was spending so much time taking care of a couple members of his family that he was just getting tired,” Toms said. “I think he used the word exhausted. He was just not sleeping good and then trying to do his duties as a council member as well, it’s just overwhelming.”

In 2010, when Lee was serving his first term on council, he was told that he needed to work in a cotton field by fellow council member John Williams, who is white, during a heated exchange at a council meeting. The incident landed the two on “CNN Newsroom.”

Williams, whose four years in office included bizarre run-ins with the law, was defeated in second bid for office in 2011 while facing indictment on extortion charges related to the attempted purchase of a used vehicle for the city’s police department. He was later convicted and served time in prison.

Lee is the brother of Gary Lee, the city’s economic development director, who’s facing trial after his indictment on a felony charge of making a false statement to a sheriff’s investigator during a criminal investigation.

Gary Lee’s attorneys have argued that he was being “selectively prosecuted” because another council member, who is white, allegedly reported that telephone lines were being wiretapped, but was not charged with false reporting of a crime, according to Houston County Superior Court records.

Judge G.E. “Bo” Adams ruled that Tim Thomas, who is no longer on council, expressed his concern to the former police chief during a closed council meeting and that his comments in no way could be construed as falsely reporting a crime, according to the ruling.

Gary Lee is accused of making a false statement during a criminal investigation when he allegedly told Houston County sheriff’s Cpl. Eric Salter on June 20, 2018 that he did not sign his name to a Warner Robins Alcohol and Control Substance Policy form that he did sign, the indictment alleged. Gary has denied signing the document, though the signature was notarized, according to court records.

Telegraph archives were used in this report.

This story was originally published October 19, 2020 at 7:00 AM.