Colleagues recall serving with late Columbus councilor 'Red' McDaniel

Longtime Columbus Councilor C.E. “Red” McDaniel Jr. has died one month after he was treated for acute pancreatitis, Mayor Teresa Tomlinson said Monday.

McDaniel was admitted to St. Francis early October but died just before noon Monday.

McDaniel had served 38 years on the council of Columbus, and he was the only member who served on the old city commission before consolidation.

He was first elected in 1969, serving in the old county courthouse until the Government Center tower was built. Council now meets at the new City Services Center off Macon Road. McDaniel had served in all three public buildings.

Councilor and Mayor Pro Tem Evelyn Turner Pugh had served the longest on council with McDaniel, 26 years. But she had known him for a couple of years before she was elected, and said she always respected him

“One of the things I learned about Red was that if he told you something, you could take it to the bank,” Turner Pugh said. “He was not going to hee-haw around the bush on what he felt about something. He’d tell you, and he’d tell you why he felt like that. And if you could change his mind, he’d tell you that, too. At least you could talk to him.

“It’s just not going to be the same without him.”

Former mayor and police chief Jim Wetherington also worked with McDaniel for decades, in both of his official capacities and called him “a great advocate for this city.”

“Red always had a special relationship with Public Safety,” Wetherington said. “I had a good relationship with him when I was police chief and a good relationship when I was mayor. Red always thought a lot about not only of general government employees, but for public safety.”

Councilor Judy Thomas served with McDaniel on Council since she was elected in 2010, but also worked with him during her four years as Wetherington’s executive assistant while he was mayor. McDaniel’s institutional knowledge and experience will be practically impossible to replace, she said.

“Red knew the background about whatever we were talking about. He was able to talk with you and share that, to tell you, ‘This is why this was done the way it was,’" Thomas said. “Red had that first-hand knowledge and it was so helpful to have somebody you could trust and you could go to and say, ‘Tell me about this.’ And Red filled that role just beautifully.

“He is going to be terribly missed on Council.”

Thomas also had something of a family connection with McDaniel, although indirectly.

“My dad was with the Columbus Fire Department for 35 years,” Thomas said. “Red was a city official during that time and my dad thought so much of him and thought his character was beyond reproach and he was always looking out for firefighters and public safety.

“My dad’s been gone now for 11 years, and now one of those ‘touches’ to my dad is gone, too. It’s a very sad, sad day for us all.”

McDaniel, who had said he expected this term to be his last, won his final election handily, defeating challenger Jeremy Hobbs 1,372-978, or about 58-42 percent in 2012.

The city’s charter sets out how McDaniel will be replaced, according to City Attorney Clifton Fay.

If a councilor leaves office within a year-and-a-half of being elected, there is a special election to elect an interim to serve out the term. If the councilor leaves after a year-and-a-half, which is the case with McDaniel, Council will appoint an interim to serve out the rest of the term, Fay said.

However, because the person is serving as an interim, and because Columbus holds municipal elections in the spring or summer, the person elected at the next municipal election would take office immediately instead of waiting until the next January, Fay explained.

This story was originally published November 3, 2014 at 2:02 PM with the headline "Colleagues recall serving with late Columbus councilor 'Red' McDaniel."