Former Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee, who lived in East Cobb and was best known for stadium negotiations to bring the Atlanta Braves to the county, died Sunday after a battle with cancer.
He died early Sunday afternoon at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, according to multiple reports.
Lee, who was 62, had been diagnosed with cancer last year. The MDJ reported that the esophageal cancer had returned, and that there was a dinner in Lee’s honor at the Delta Club at SunTrust Park on Monday that included political and Braves luminaries.
The report said Lee had been hospitalized this week but that he hoped to be released.
Current Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce said Sunday that flags at all county government facilities will fly at half-staff this week through Lee’s funeral. Those arrangements have not been announced.
“The county has lost a true leader and statesman who will long be remembered for his accomplishments and love of Cobb County,” Boyce said in a statement issued by the county.
Lee was first elected to the Cobb Board of Commissioners from District 3 in Northeast Cobb in 2002, when Sam Olens left that post to become chairman. In 2010, he stepped down from that post to run for chairman when Olens resigned to campaign for Georgia Attorney General.
Lee won a full four-year term as chairman in 2012, staving off former chairman Bill Byrne in the Republican primary.
It was during the summer and fall of 2014 that Lee became a central figure in the controversial Braves deal.
He announced a partnership with the Braves, contingent upon commission approval of a memorandum of understanding to provide $300 million of public financing.
But commissioners had only two weeks from the time of the announcement before voting, prompting questions about secrecy. The vote to approve the financing passed 4-1, but the Braves deal ultimately led to Lee’s departure from office.
The process over the Braves deal was a leading campaign issue in the 2016 chairman’s race for Boyce, a retired U.S. Marine colonel who lives in East Cobb and who ran for chairman in 2012.
Boyce overcame a lack of name recognition and was outspent, but defeated Lee in the Republican primary.
In 2017, Lee was named executive director of economic development for Habersham County in the North Georgia mountains.
District 2 commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb had plenty of differences with Lee, including the latter’s push for a property tax increase in 2011, during the recession.
On Sunday, Ott said in the Cobb government statement that “Tim guided Cobb County through some difficult economic times.
“His love for our county was seen from his early days as a commissioner and was even more evident when he became chairman. He always wanted the best for Cobb, and it is a true tragedy his life has been cut short.”
Said current District 3 commissioner JoAnn Birrell, who succeeded Lee: “He was a great leader and visionary for Cobb County. He always had the county’s best interest at heart and served with his entire being.”
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