x
Breaking News
More () »

'Do what we can to make a downtown thrive': Warner Robins council votes to merge economic, community development departments

The ordinance to combine the two departments and abolish the positions passed with a 4 to 1 vote. This measure takes effect immediately.

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Monday night, Warner Robins City Council passed an ordinance to merge two city agencies and create a new department. However, not everyone is in favor of the decision.

Mayor Randy Toms appointed City Administrator David Corbin to temporarily hold the newly-created position of Community and Economic Development director.

This takes effect immediately.

The positions being combined are Community Development Director, which is vacant since Sherri Windham retired in April, and Economic Development Director.

Mayor Randy Toms says Corbin floated the idea of merging.

“Those two departments used to be together and, in fact, when I first took office, I saw a need to separate them,” said Toms.

We asked for examples of why Toms felt the separate departments weren't meeting his needs.

“I strongly desired a downtown development for a long time and I haven't really seen as much progress in that, so I want the joint department to focus on trying to do what we can to make a downtown thrive,” said Toms.

Rutha Jackson is longtime Warner Robins resident who attended the meeting. She says she's unhappy with the decision, “Reason being is that one person has lost their job, their position, one who has been faithful in this city, brought in many economic development programs so that we could become a smart city,” she said.

Before Monday's vote, Gary Lee held the title of Economic Development Director-- but now he's without a job.

We've covered stories on Lee in the past. He has pending charges of falsely reporting a crime and making a false statement in 2019. No court date is set at this time.

We also reported on documents that showed Lee and his lawyer gave the city a legal "heads up" that a $10 million lawsuit could be filed against them.

“His work and his work ethics should overshadow and be more important to the city than letting him go,” said Jackson.

Two weeks ago when the first vote happened, we asked Toms if Lee's history had anything to do with the decision.

“Absolutely not,” said Toms.

The ordinance to combine the two departments and abolish the positions passed 4 to 1 – Councilman Larry Curtis voted no.

Before You Leave, Check This Out