Four more years: Albany City Commission swearing-in ceremony set for Monday

ALBANY — When four members of the Albany City Commission are sworn in Monday evening, it won’t bring any new faces to the mix, and coincidentally the issues they and the three other incumbents face also will be familiar.

The swearing-in ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. at the Government Center for Mayor Bo Dorough and Commissioners Jon Howard, Chad Warbington and Demetrius Young.

Dorough, Howard in Ward I and Warbington in Ward IV each fought off challengers to gain another four years in office, while Young ran unopposed to win a second term in Ward VI.

Many items on the city’s agenda won’t be new: crime, fixing the city’s antiquated sewer/stormwater system, housing, the need for jobs and blight are among the ongoing challenges.

While downtown Albany seems to be seeing something of a renaissance, with a number of projects under way or in the works, the commission will still need to monitor and keep those programs moving, said Dorough, who will be sworn in for a second term.

The city also is looking to achieve recognition of a historic district that will allow developers to receive tax credits for projects that renovate old buildings in the area. Currently projects must be approved on a case-by-case basis.

“We’ve just got to keep on pace to get this thing past the finish line,” the mayor said. “We are pursuing historic district designation for downtown Albany to make historic tax credits available for developers.”

The city also has made strides in the ongoing project to separate stormwater and sewage and reduce discharges of sewage into the Flint River. The city has a federal mandate to achieve 85% separation by mid-2025, and while it is on schedule, there is still work to be done in ensuring there is adequate funding for the work, Dorough said.

“We are doing what we can to minimize the impact on our ratepayers,” he said.

The city also has a number of renovations and construction projects at recreation facilities.

“Clearly, economic development has got to be in the forefront in everybody’s mind,” Dorough said. “The city can’t bring an industry to Albany, but we can do everything we can to incentivize it.

“Crime is going to be on the forefront of everybody’s mind. I’ve said before you can’t address crime unless you address the socio-economic causes of crime.”

The city also was approved last year for a grant for the construction of a 21-house development on Gillionville Road and is exploring a housing project with the assistance of the Georgia Institute of Technology that would focus on the area around Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital.

Howard, the city’s longest-serving elected official, agreed with the mayor’s assessment of issues that the commission will work to address.

“We’re going to have to collaborate with all law enforcement agencies — the sheriff’s office, the Albany State University Police Department, Dougherty County police, the GBI (Georgia Bureau of Investigation) — to try to address the issues of crime,” he said. “You have crime in the north, south, east and west. You have a high volume of crime in certain areas. It makes citizens frustrated.

“That’s one of the things with the widow ladies in my district is they just feel their neighborhoods are not safe.”

Business owners also must feel like they are in a safe location before they will invest in locating in a neighborhood, he said.

“We’re no different than any rural or urban city,” Howard said. “Crime just seems to be pervasive throughout the whole nation. I agree in the time while they were talking about black lives matter. At the same time, I think all lives matter, and we’ve got to let that spread across the community.”

Blight and litter, and the impact they have on the community and economic prospects, are issues that have long been important to Howard.

There are a number of neighborhoods, particularly around the Clark Avenue/East Broad Avenue corridor where there are repair businesses that operate outside city ordinances.

The commissioner said he would like to see the city’s Code Enforcement Department more stringently address violations. And there are also aging apartment complexes in east and south Albany that are eyesores and hazardous to residents.

One new initiative the veteran commissioner said he would like to add to the agenda is the formation of a committee with the county government and Phoebe to establish a group to address health disparities. The area has a high rate of diseases like diabetes and cancer that need to be addressed.

Howard said he also would like to see more grocery stores located in food deserts in the community.

“I’m going to be addressing food insecurity in east and south Albany,” he said.

Special PhotoFile Photo: Carlton Fletcher

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