Born in Brunswick, Ga. Soon moved to Hortense, Ga. Graduated from Brantley County High School. Has an OSHA health and safety manager’s degree from OSHA/Ga.Tech. A member of the Church of Christ. Presently employed as an estate management tech with Estate Management Services in Brunswick. Was honorably discharged from the US Army and the Georgia Army National Guard. Have called Darien home for 33 years with wife Marcia Hodge. Marcia is in her 47th year as an educator including 38 years for the McIntosh County School System. Has two daughters: Carilee Webb, married to Anthony Webb with one child, Jensen; and Olivia Holman, married to Jay Holman in Nashville, Tennessee. Currently serving as 1st vice president of the Ga. Municipal Association District 12. Completed over 276 hours of local government training with Carl Vinson at UGA, achieving the highest level of government training offered by the State of Ga. Have served as a Darien City Councilman, as well as Darien/McIntosh County as a volunteer fire fighter/medical 1st responder for 32 years. Have served as Lt. Governor of the Ga. Optimist Club, currently 2nd vice president of the Darien Lion’s Club; as a secretary of Todd Grant Elementary School; as a president of McIntosh County Middle School PTO; and served on the boards of Keep McIntosh Beautiful and McIntosh Preservation Society.

Griffin Lotson is a McIntosh County/Darien Georgia native. He currently serves as Vice-Chairman of the Federal Government Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Commission.  He has been promoted to the level of Global and State Goodwill Ambassador.  Mr. Lotson returns to the council having previously served as a city council member for eight consecutive years, where he also held the position of Mayor Pro Tempore under the City Charter.  He is currently working on a $1 million fundraising effort with others to promote the historical significance of the Butler Island Plantation, Darien, Georgia.

A sixth generation McIntosh County descendant, Dr. William H. A. Collins moved to Darien, GA, the home of his paternal ancestors, after growing up in Jacksonville, Florida, graduating from the College of Pharmacy at Florida A & M University, and working in Illinois, Florida, and Kings Bay, Georgia.

Collins is a product or offspring of the Hammond/Harmon, Mention, and Waters Families of McIntosh County, whose documented presence can be traced back to the late 1700’s. The census of 1850 list the Hammon family as “Free Persons of Color” under the Guardianship of Charles DesVerger.

In addition to Pharmacy, Dr. Collins studied Journalism at the University of Wisconsin; Music at Hampton University; completed a course of studies at the National Federation of Republican Women’s Campaign Management School; and two of Buddy Sullivan’s History of Coastal Georgia courses at Coastal Georgia Community College.

In 1996, he was one of three minorities vying for a seat in the Georgia General Assembly – representing Camden and Charlton Counties; making him one of nine Black Republicans nationwide seeking legislative seats that year. Dr. Collins is past treasurer of Lower Altamaha Historical Society, and a life member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. – the OLDEST College Fraternity for African American Men.

Presently, Collins serves Chairman of the Harris neck Community for Justice and Preservation, Inc, on the Board of the Burning of Darien Museum, Inc, the advisory Board of the McIntosh County Historic Preservation Commission, 2rd Vice President of the NAACP, Vice Chairman of the Coalition for the Reduction/Elimination of Ethnic Disparities in Health (CREED), Minister of Music at Grant Chapel Presbyterian Church, and St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church in Darien, and official organist for the Darien Funeral Home. A Certified Classroom Teacher, and on the Boards of five mentorship groups and organization in Georgia & Florida (Americas Youth, Teen I.D.O.L., Grant Chapel Men’s Prayer Group, & The R. J. Reynolds Scholarship Committee).

Collins proudly performs the duties of Shammash (Deacon) at First Tabernacle – Beth El in Jacksonville, FL (a subsidiary of Temple Beth’El, Suffolk, VA), and on the Board of Trustees for Temple Beth Tefilloh in Brunswick, GA.

Born and raised in Athens, Georgia, Russ attended the University of Georgia. In 2006, he moved to Darien & McIntosh County, where he, his father, and their business partner, opened Waterfront Wine & Gourmet, located downtown on Broad Street. Russ also is real estate agent in Darien. Russ served four years on the Darien/Mcintosh County Chamber of Commerce, and was also on the Darien Downtown Development Authority. He served as Chairman for one year.

He has been married to his wife, Jennifer, for 9 years. They have a 3 year old son, Anders. Jennifer is an elementary school teacher in Glynn County.

While elected in the South Ward, Russ loves the community of Darien, and all of the citizens within it.