Dalton City Councilman Derek Waugh will resign his position on the council at the end of June to pursue a new job in Atlanta. On July 1, Mr. Waugh will take over as the new athletic director at the Marist School. Mr. Waugh is a 1989 graduate of the school and has spent much of his career in coaching or athletic administration, previously serving as the head coach at Stetson University and athletic director at Dalton State College.
“It gets me back to working in athletics, which I love, and the fact that it’s the place I came from makes it even more special,” said Mr. Waugh of his new position in Atlanta. “Leaving Dalton and all the great people and great times we’ve had here is hard, but we’ll only be an hour and fifteen minutes down the road.”
Mr. Waugh was elected to the city council and took office in January 2020. He intends to continue as Ward 1’s representative on the council through the end of June before leaving to take over at Marist in July. His seat will then remain vacant until the November general election when it will be on the ballot. Qualifying for that election will begin at the end of August.
“Derek was on the council for a short time, but he did a lot of great work in that short time, particularly with the recreation department,” said Mayor David Pennington. “Even more importantly than that, he’s been a great citizen of Dalton for 10 years or more. He will be missed, but we understand why. He’s got a great new job and he’s going home.”
“I loved working with everyone on the council,” Mr. Waugh said. “I would say given the time frame when I took office and going through the pandemic and all the things that came along with that, it was definitely an interesting time, but it was a good time to be in a leadership position and I just enjoyed everything about the community. I’m positive someone great will step up and take my place and do a great job.”