Albany City Commission begins planning replacement for late Commissioner Demetrius Young

ALBANY – In his three decades serving on the Albany City Commission, Ward I Commissioner Jon Howard has never had to engage in the process of moving forward with bringing a new member onboard after the death of a sitting commission member.

This month, Howard and his colleagues on the board will be tasked with starting that process to replace late Ward VI Commissioner Demetrius Young. Young, 53, who was one year into his second four-year term in office, died on Dec. 29 of natural causes, according to Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler.

According to the city’s charter, the commission has 15 days from the office being vacated, which includes a death while in office, to plan for filling the vacancy.

“We are all distressed at Commissioner Young’s passing,” Albany Mayor Bo Dorough said.

The mayor said he does not want to seem disrespectful toward friends and family members of Young, whose funeral was Friday, but the charter is clear in its instructions, unless there is a state law that would supersede it.

The next commission meeting is on Tuesday, and with the tight timeline the process of moving toward an election will need to start at that time.

“Obviously, if we have to call an election within 15 days, we will be talking about it,” Dorough said.

Dorough was one of three new commission members, along with Young and Ward IV Commissioner Chad Warbington, who were elected in 2019 and took office in 2020. Howard also was re-elected the same year.

The veteran Howard said the City Commission has not had a death of a serving commissioner during his tenure.

The Dougherty County Commission has faced that situation twice in recent memory, in 2008 when Commissioner Art Searles died with about two years left in his four-year term. Searles was elected to the District 5 position after the death of his predecessor in the role, James Cross, who died in office in 2000.

The state establishes dates during the year on which special elections may be called, Dougherty County Election Supervisor Ginger Nickerson said.

“In accordance with state law, the first special election has been established for 2025 on March 18,” she said.

In order to authorize an election, the City Commission is required to approve a resolution calling for a date for a special election, she said. The Albany-Dougherty County Board of Registration and Elections would then approve that request and call for an election.

Feb. 18 is the last date on which an election could be called to allow for an election to go forward on March 18.

Once the election is called, Nickerson’s office will begin preparing for a qualification period for candidates and for holding the election.