Albany city manager granted authority to OK utilities projects up to $100,000

ALBANY — What a difference a day makes.

Less than 24 hours after the Albany Utility Board surprisingly refused Monday to recommend that the Albany City Commission OK legislation that would allow the city manager to spend up to $100,000 on utilities projects without prior approval from the Utility Board or City Commission, the commission voted 5-2 to approve the measure at a special called meeting.

City Manager Sharon Subadan, who told The Albany Herald last week the proposed legislation would help erase the disadvantage the city’s utilities authority worked under by having to publicly announce its intentions, said after Tuesday’s meeting she’s ready to put her newly approved authority to use.

“I think you’ll see some of these projects we’ve been discussing move forward as soon as this week,” Subadan said. “We no longer will have to give up our competitive advantage by discussing project proposals in an open meeting.”

The measure passed with commissioners Jon Howard and Bobby Coleman voting against it. Howard said he’s concerned about opportunities for minority and women contractors under the use of Indefinite Quality Contracting, which the legislation calls for, while Coleman said the measure eliminates necessary checks and balances.

“I will never ever vote to circumvent checks and balances,” Coleman said.

The commission also voted — 4-2-1 with Howard’s and Coleman’s no votes and Commissioner Roger Marietta’s abstention — to approve an intergovernmental agreement with the Albany-Dougherty Inner City Authority that was the final step in the purchase of downtown properties at 115-133 Front Street and 100-112 Pine Avenue. The total purchase price of the property, $619,000, includes $400,000 in ADICA funding and $219,000 from the “revolving” portion of the city’s Job-Enhancement Fund approved for downtown development.

Subadan has said the city will start marketing the property immediately in an effort to jump-start redevelopment of the city’s downtown district.

While she didn’t offer much detail, Mayor Dorothy Hubbard indicated her desire to have the two pieces of legislation pass led her to “compromise” in a vote to name a new member to the Albany-Dougherty Economic Development Commission. The board voted 4-3, with Hubbard casting the deciding vote, to name Bishop John Burr to the EDC board as a replacement for Chad Warbington, who stepped down from his post on the board to focus on his run for the City Commission’s Ward IV seat.

Burr was selected over city Technology and Communications Director Jason Gauntt, who’d been nominated by Commissioner B.J. Fletcher.

Fletcher chastised her colleagues for the vote, saying she’d been “betrayed” by certain board members.

“I was furious when Commissioner (Tommie) Postell talked about ‘naming friends’ to (city-appointed) boards, when that’s exactly what happened,” Fletcher said. “This is nothing against Mr. Burr, but you take his resume and stack it up next to Jason’s and remove the names and let anyone pick the one who’s better qualified. Jason would win every time.

“I was angry about this vote because I believe we need utilities representation on the EDC board, but I called Mr. Burr after the meeting and told him that while I didn’t vote for him, I will support him and help him in any way I can once he starts his service on the board.”

Fletcher had criticized Postell, Coleman, Howard and Hubbard immediately after the vote, saying their action was a “slap in the face to taxpayers” and “puts politics ahead of what’s best for the community.”

Marietta, who had said he would change his vote to Burr “to move this along” when Hubbard did not initially vote on the appointment, told Fletcher she “shouldn’t take the vote personally.” Fletcher told Marietta she was ashamed that the board had “ignored the city’s taxpayers.”

Coleman responded angrily to Fletcher’s comments.

“Nobody dictates who I vote for,” the Ward II commissioner said. When Fletcher responded, “The taxpayers do,” he said, “No, they don’t. We are where we are today as a city because we keep naming the same people to all the boards. We need to broaden our circle. We had an opportunity today to appoint someone different, and I plan to make sure those appointments reflect this city.”

Postell, too, had indicated Gauntt is “already on so many boards and commissions” as one of his reasons for supporting Burr. Gauntt, however, has never served on an appointed city board, while Burr has served on several.

Without going into detail, Hubbard said, “Sometimes you have to make unpopular decisions when they’re in the best interest of the community. I had to compromise to get the Utility Board matter approved, but I think that’s way more important for the future of our city than an appointment to the EDC board. That’s something that can be addressed later, but right now we have an opportunity to increase revenue through utilities projects. That’s a priority.”

Howard later asked Police Chief Michael Persley and Code officers to look into the conditions of property in his district.

“If we don’t get some support on this, our city’s going to hell in a breadbasket,” Howard said. “I saw things (when looking into a constituent’s complaint) that made me ashamed to be part of this community. Some areas of our city are completely deplorable … and people still live there.”