Troy Mayor Apologizes, Says 'I'm Not Going to Resign'

Troy Mayor Janice Daniels apologized Monday for her and said she will not be resigning.

"I love my new role as mayor, and I'm not going to resign," Daniels said in a phone interview Monday morning.

"While I do believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman, it was inappropriate to use that language describing a group of people. ... I regret what I said. I should not have used such language."

She added, "I am human."

Daniels said she sees this as a learning opportunity and looks forward to meeting with gay rights groups in the area, including the , which is planning to this afternoon.

"I've listened to all the comments, and I think I'll be a better mayor as a result of all of this," she said. "I am honored to be the mayor of all of the citizens of Troy and I love people. It was an unfortunate, regretful thing that I said."

Daniels said she will try to make it out to the protest today and confirmed she will be at tonight's Troy City Council meeting.

"If anyone wants to talk with me after the meeting or during the break, I'll be happy to meet with them," she said.

Some individuals, including members of the believe an apology now is merely political, though Daniels insists she is sincere.

"I don't believe this apology is sincere," said Troy High School senior Skye Curtis, who founded the school's GSA. "It's too little, too late."

"Her apology isn't sincere," Troy High School senior Zach Kilgore said. "If she were genuinely sorry, she would have apologized immediately."

David Garcia, executive director of the Ferndale-based GLBT community center Affirmations, said he is interested to see what happens next.

"I am less concerned about an apology and far more interested in what future actions the Mayor will take to become a more educated and compassionate representative," he said in a written statement sent to Patch. "Ms. Daniels, and for that matter all elected officials, are finally realizing that derogatory, homophobic, and bigoted behavior will simply not be tolerated by the majority of the citizenry, and that there are consequences for ignorance."  

Troy City Councilmember Jim Campbell also responded to Daniels' apology Monday, saying: "An apology, obviously, is one of the things to do, and hopefully the public will accept that."

He added, "I guess we’ll have to wait for tonight and go from there.”

Daniels responded to criticism of her apology by saying, "I only speak heartfelt words, and I have to be taken for my word."

For live coverage of tonight's Troy City Council meeting and protest, . For complete coverage of the controversy surrounding Mayor Daniels' and her Facebook post, visit our Special Page.