Albany city commissioners divided on charter change, speed humps

ALBANY — Divided city officials grew testy at times during discussion of issues at Tuesday’s Albany City Commission work meeting, splitting votes on a number of agenda items.

A request by Ward II Commissioner Bobby Coleman to change the city charter so that an interim city manager would not have the authority to hire or fire the city’s police or fire chief, and a request for traffic calming devices by Ward IV Commissioner Roger Marietta at three locations in his ward spurred sometimes heated debate among commissioners.

“This is not about our current police chief (Michael Persley), as some people have said,” Coleman said of the new Albany Police Department chief, who was named to the position by then-interim City Manager Tom Berry before Berry’s permanent replacement, Sharon Subadan, was hired by the commission. “In fact, let me go ahead and get this out there on the record: It’s been said that Bobby Coleman doesn’t like our new police chief. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

Coleman had asked for the charter change after Berry named both Persley and new Albany Fire Department Chief Ron Rowe to those positions.

Ward V Commissioner Bob Langstaff argued against the change.

“I disagree,” Langstaff said. “When you have an interim anything, they need to step in and fill the shoes of the person they replace and do all the duties. If an interim doesn’t have authority (to hire or fire), people under him or her could do anything.

“If the police chief is caught stealing, no one would have authority over him (under the proposed charter change).”

Coleman said his concern is with procedure, not personalities.

“The charter says the ‘city manager’ has the authority to appoint and remove the fire chief and police chief,” he said. “It doesn’t say ‘interim city manager.’ If we feel an interim should have such authority, our charter should reflect that.”

Mayor Dorothy Hubbard, who said the city’s entire charter is due a review, asked Subadan to review the city’s charter and report back to the commission with possible recommendations for revision.

Ward I Commissioner Jon Howard said he felt Berry had shown “nepotism and favoritism” in some of the appointments he made in his 10 months as interim city manager.

Marietta asked the commission to approve funding for speed humps on Lynwood Lane and Meadowlark Drive and to add an additional traffic-calming obstacle to the three recently installed on Edgewater Drive, around Lake Loretta, one of the city’s most popular locations for walkers. Ward V Commissioner Bob Langstaff argued that Marietta was trying to secure more than his ward’s share of funding from the $100,000 in the city budget for such speed-reduction devices.

“I suggest we go around the table and install these devices in other wards before we go back to Ward IV,” Langstaff said. “We have $100,000 in the budget for six wards, and that’s only $16,666 for each ward. If we add the mayor in, that’s only $14,000.”

Marietta argued that he and his constituents had “gone through the city’s arduous process” to approve the traffic-calming devices while other commissioners hadn’t. He said such a safety issue should be determined by need, not location. When Ward VI Commissioner Tommie Postell made a motion to allow the fourth speed hump at Edgewater, Marietta insisted that all of the devices he’d requested be approved.

“This is analogous to alley paving,” Langstaff said. “I’m not trying to call you out, but this is not a race to the courthouse where the first person there gets the money. I’ve been trying to get speed bumps in my ward for 16 years, before I was even on the commission.”

When Marietta insisted that the commission should approve all his requests, Postell said, “I’m not gonna sit here and let him monopolize my ward’s money. I maintain my ward is just as important as Marietta’s. I’m through with it.”

Hubbard told Postell, “No, you’re not through with it. You’ll turn around and listen to me. Everyone’s going to be treated the same here.”

The commission also voted to approve, at the recommendation of Community Development Director Shelena Hawkins, the Oaks at North Intown Development Corp. as the city’s Certified Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) and make up to $121,694.70 in available HUD funds available to the group for affordable housing projects.