Crime, youth activities top list for incoming Ward III Albany city commissioner

ALBANY — The morning after his victory in a Tuesday runoff election, the commissioner-elect for Albany’s Ward III was sticking to his campaign issues that helped propel him to a big win, “trying to address crime and activities for the kids.”

Vilnis “Dip” Gaines, who will take office in January, won the Tuesday runoff with 706 votes to earn a four-year term to the Albany City Commission. Incumbent Commissioner B.J. Fletcher finished with 473 votes.

With turnout surpassing that of the Nov. 2 three-way general election, Gaines also seems to have stuck to a theme he focused on during an interview with The Herald the week before the election: getting his voters to the polls. On Dawson Road, enthusiastic campaigners waved and held up signs at cars passing by polling locations at Merry Acres Middle School and Porterfield Methodist Church.

“Dip is my church member,” Tenisha Robinson, who was a volunteer outside the Merry Acres precinct on Tuesday, said. “I’ve known him 30 years, since I was a baby. I just think he’s a good candidate because of strong faith in God and wanting to help the community.”

Poll workers at those locations described turnout as slow through much of the day, but the vote at other precincts made up the difference. While only 14.06 percent of the more than 8,000 registered Ward III voters cast ballots on Tuesday, it surpassed the 13.28 percent turnout on Nov. 2.

“Being a runoff, those numbers were great,” said Gaines, a 22-year employee at Molson Coors Albany Brewery. “I don’t have any negative comments about Commissioner Fletcher, so we’re just trying to make a difference. I just want to thank all the people of Albany and my campaign team and all the citizens of Albany and ask them to present their issues to me and I can take them to the board.”

A rumor spread online that Gaines had formerly been affiliated with a street gang apparently did not gain any traction, he said.

“I think it actually helped me for (a local blogger) to put that rumor out, because people knew it was a lie,” Gaines said. “That was terrible for someone to put this out. I have been in this community and helping in the community.”

Contacted by telephone on Wednesday morning, Fletcher, who was elected eight years ago, made a reference to the Bible’s book of Ecclesiastes.

“I said my season was over as commissioner of Ward III, and I am not upset about it,” said Fletcher, who also had nothing negative to say about her runoff opponent. “I pray for this community. My business (restaurant) depends on this community being healthy. If I didn’t want him to be successful, I would be saying I don’t want the city to be successful.”

During her tenure, Fletcher said she strived to be a voice for fiscally conservative policies, and that she considers policy, not political party or race, to be her guiding force in politics.

She also said she is looking to stay involved.

“If I have to look back at my eight years, I worked hard for this community … and make conservative decisions and do what I can for everybody in this community,” she said. “I promised I would be a voice. Nothing is changed. Come January I will still be a voice. I won’t have a vote, but I will still be a voice.”

Gaines will be in good hands with the current city staff to do the same, get in and learn the system and make the best decisions, Fletcher said.

“He’s got a great interim city manager,” she said. “He’s got great department heads. We’ve got so much good. We’ve got a great hospital. We’ve got great people. We have people who could live anywhere in the world who choose to live in Albany.”

File Photo: Carlton FletcherFile Photo