WARNER ROBINS – In a serious ceremony punctuated with laughter, Mayor Chuck Shaheen and council members Mike Daley, Daron Lee and Paul Shealy were sworn into office Monday night at City Hall.

About 500 residents and local officials jammed city hall as Houston County Chief Superior Court Judge George Nunn Jr. administered the oaths of office. A reception followed a brief council meeting.

At the meeting, council took care of routine beginning-of-the-year procedures by unanimously reappointing Jim Elliott Jr. as the city attorney, selecting council member Bob Wilbanks as mayor pro tempore, and approving the mayor and council schedule for the remainder of the year. Council meetings rescheduled were Jan. 19, due to the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday Jan. 18; July 6 due to the July 4 holiday weekend; and Sept. 7 due to Labor Day falling on Sept. 6.

Daley was the first to be sworn in, and he said afterward that all through his campaign he would be a full-time councilman.

“The promise starts today,” he said.

“Warner Robins may already be in trouble; we’ve got a left-handed councilman,” Nunn said as Daley signed the document and the audience broke out in laughter.

Lee stressed unity in his brief talk.

“Together we can do so much,” Lee said. “Warner Robins is a city with great potential that can leave a positive impact on the state, the country and the world.”

Shealy said the city “has the best employees, and I look forward to working with you.”

“Mr. mayor-elect, you’re next,” said Nunn as he called Shaheen to the podium.

The new mayor invited three youngsters to be with him as he took the oath of office and the four put their hands on a Bible.

“You don’t have enough hands there,” said Nunn, bringing forth another burst of laughter.

Shaheen, when signing the document, said that as a child he practiced signing his father’s name because when he grew up “that’s what I want to do.”

Not to be outdone, Nunn said, “When I was growing up I learned how to sign Chuck Shaheen’s father’s name,” and the building fairly shook with laughter and applause.

Shaheen began his remarks by saying his first official act as mayor was to present to outgoing Mayor John Havrilla a silver platter in appreciation for his efforts in office following the suicide of Mayor Donald Walker in late September, and for his help in the transition period, adding that adversity helps bring out a person’s character.

Havrilla thanked Shaheen, then remarked that “others thought I just shredded papers” while in office, a reference to his actions Oct. 6 in destroying index cards and papers found in a filing cabinet when cleaning out Walker’s office.

“Warner Robins is a trademark, like Coca-Cola,” Shaheen said. “You can find the ingredients on the bottle, and for Warner Robins the people make the place. I’m blessed to serve you.”

He also reiterated his support for the city’s small businesses, saying that ones that have been in operation for years speak of good management and employees.

The city’s youth served by the Recreation Department are the future leaders of Warner Robins, he continued, “and a good leader trains his successors. Our government will be transparent, these young people are our future and we’ll train them. I will honor the Lord and serve the people of Warner Robins.”

Among the many local and state officials attending the event were outgoing city council members Clifford Holmes and Terry Horton, Macon Mayor Robert Richert, Valdosta Mayor John Fretti, Centerville Mayor-elect John Harley, Houston County Commission Chairman Ned Sanders and commission members Tom McMichael and Jay Walker, state Rep. Tony Sellier, Bibb County Commission Vice Chairman Joe Allen, Byron City Council member Michael Chidester, and Maj. Gen. Polly Peyer, commander of the Air Logistics Center at Robins Air Force Base.