Henry Mathis brings passion for service to Ward II commission race

ALBANY — Given his four-decade involvement with the city of Albany’s government — as a member of the city commission, as a citizen who kept up with the goings-on of the governing body, and as an advocate for change — Henry Mathis is too crafty to get into a mud-slinging, name-calling contest.

So, when given the opportunity to comment on the two people he is challenging for the vacant Ward II commission seat in a special election on June 17 (Muarlean Edwards and Willie Weaver), Mathis demurred, offering instead an analogy.

“When you have a vehicle and the motor goes out, you don’t call a plumber, you don’t call a dentist,” Mathis, 70, an assistant pastor at 2nd Mount Zion Church and a part-time Political Science professor at Albany State University, said. “You need a mechanic. You look at the three candidates in this race, look at which of them knows the ward, and you know who the mechanic in this case is.”

Mathis does offer what he deems a telling bit of insider information about Weaver, who served as chief Municipal Court judge until recently.

“When I said I planned to run for this seat, Judge Weaver pledged to support me,” Mathis said. “The night the city fired him as Municipal Court Judge, he came to me and said he would support me and campaign for me. A few days later, he came to me and said, ‘I’m thinking about running for the Ward II seat.’

“I told him after qualifying, ‘Now I know how Jesus felt.'”

Asked why he wanted to give up the free time he spends with recently retired wife Carolyn, who worked 39 years and three months with the city’s Utilities Authority, at their lovely east Albany home, Mathis has a ready answer: “I can’t sit idly by and watch my city continue to deteriorate.”

Noting that he’s personally visited “all 11 different sections” of Ward II, Mathis said he’s noted the issues that most impact the citizens throughout the ward.

“The No. 1 issue in all areas of the ward — and the city — is public safety,” the candidate said. “The people tell me they just don’t see the police patrolling their neighborhoods. That’s understandable, because the police department is 97 officers short right now. Research shows that a policing agency needs 2-3 1/2 officers per 1,000 people. We have 67,887 people, so we should have around 235 officers. We have 138.”

Mathis said he’s seen first-hand what a shortage of officers can mean.

“The old Coats and Clark building is close to my home,” he said. “I saw a car pull up to the abandoned building, and I watched three guys get out of the car and go into the building. They started bringing out wire and other things. I called the police and reported the break-in.

“It took officers 45 minutes to respond to my call. By the time they got there, the first car had gone and another had pulled up and done the same thing. I asked the responding officer about the response time, and he just shook his head and said, ‘We’re working with such a shortage of officers.'”

Other issues Mathis said constituents have concerns about are transparency within the government, needed infrastructure improvements, getting the services they pay for with their tax money, utilizing the Flint River to attract businesses and tourists, working with Albany State to create a true “college town” atmosphere, and, stepping outside typical city jurisdiction, working with the School Board to discuss the possibility of tax relief for seniors.

“One of the first things I would do if elected is call for a forensic audit, which hasn’t been done since Larry Bays was mayor more than 30 years ago,” Mathis said. “Bays, when elected, said, ‘I will not take the city’s books until we’ve done a complete audit.’ You can’t truly know your budget and what the city’s true needs are until you complete that audit.

“You do an audit, a complete assessment of the needs in each ward, then meet with your colleagues on the commission to make an informed assessment, and then you use the money where it is most needed. That’s good government.”

Mathis noted that he is the fourth generation of his family involved in community leadership, going back from his mother, to his grandmother, to his great-grandmother, “Mama Dolly.”

“I’m engaged here,” he said. “Mine and Carolyn’s kids have been encouraging us to leave, but we’ve been happy here. And the people in Ward II know I’m always going to be there for them. I’ve been out of active politics for a long time, but I still get calls about utilities, public safety, public works, recreation. I don’t know many people who have the passion for Albany that I have.”

Still, there are so many things he could be doing.

“I can’t sit on the sidelines,” Mathis said. “I just can’t give up on my city. I think we’ve got everything going right now but visionary leadership. We need a new energy, something that’s been missing with our government for a long time.

“I can work with Bob Langstaff, Jon Howard, Gloria Gaines, Chad Warbington, Bo Dorough … the other leaders in our community. And I know every inch of Ward II, from Cromartie Beach to Eagle Trace to Rawson Circle to Stuart Avenue to Little John Lane to Cleve Cox Landing to Colonial Village to Nottingham, Schley, CME, Palmyra. I know the people, and I know the needs of each neighborhood. I’m ready to serve these constituents.”