Albany Commission Ward III candidates make final pitches to voters ahead of runoff election

ALBANY — The makeup of the Albany City Commission for the next two years will be decided in four days when voters go to the polls for a runoff election in Ward III.

At least one new face will be on the board beginning in January, with the election of political newcomer Jalen Johnson in Ward II. Johnson won in a three-way race in the Nov. 2 general election with the endorsement of incumbent Commissioner Matt Fuller, who decided not to seek re-election.

Veteran Ward V Commissioner Bob Langstaff also won another four-year term in a three-way contest.

Now the final question is the runoff in Ward III, where incumbent Commissioner B.J. Fletcher faces a challenge from newcomer Vilnis Gaines.

Gaines came out on top in the general election by 38 votes to set the runoff. He finished with 39.15 percent of the vote (435) to Fletcher’s 35.73 percent (397). Daa’iyah Salaam finished with 25.11 percent (279).

The race had a turnout of only 13.28 percent of the 8,394 registered voters in the ward. With the runoff coming the week after Thanksgiving and as the hectic holiday season goes into full swing, turnout for Tuesday’s election could be even more depressed.

In the closing days of the runoff campaign, Gaines said his emphasis is on getting his supporters motivated to make one more trek to the polls.

“For the people to get out and vote, that’s what we’re going to need to win this race,” he said. “I just want people to get out and vote.”

To make his case, Gaines has been taking his message to individual voters in the ward.

“I’m campaigning in the area, getting out, meeting the people, going door-to-door,” he said. “Most of all, I’m getting out and letting people meet the candidate.”

The crime rate in the city has been one of the overriding issues in the campaign, and was for candidates in all three wards that were up for election this year. Gaines identified crime and three other issues as those he has been discussing with potential voters as the campaign winds down.

“I’m just trying to cut down on crime, activities for the kids, keeping utility bills low, keeping tax dollars in the county,” he said.

The last of those, keeping taxpayers’ money local, means working to award city contracts to locally based vendors. But for Gaines that money kept in the local economy would have another benefit — helping to address crime.

“Keeping contracts local, that will create jobs,” he said. “That’s what people need. That will cut down on crime and gang activity.”

Providing reasonable utility rates for consumers can be accomplished by improving the emergency efficiency and cutting down on usage, the candidate said.

“We’re going to have to do something about the old housing, try to insulate them better,” Gaines said. “We need to make the property owners responsible so people will have a better place to live, where their utility rates won’t be so high.

“I’m wanting to see what I can do with the other commissioners.”

After eight years in office, the incumbent said that she is running on her record of keeping her word to her constituents, and will continue to do so if voters give her an extension on her contract.

“I said eight years ago ‘I want to be the voice of my ward,’ and I think I’ve done an excellent job,” she said. “I think the majority of people know me, what I’m going to do. I’m going to do what I always do. If I say I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it.”

Fletcher pointed to policies for speed bumps and alley paving as among policies she has worked to flesh out with fellow commissioners during her tenure in office. Recently she requested crime statistics for both violent and property crimes for the city with the intention of determining where crime is happening in order to help develop policies and help police better focus on problem areas.

While the commission’s decision to use $10 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds for an ongoing stormwater/sewage separation project was contentious, Fletcher defended the move as a move that will have a big impact on residents’ lives.

Prior to the announcement of the grant, the commission had discussed raising utility rates to fund the $100 million project. The aging sewage system has been the source of sewer runoff in neighborhoods and massive spills into the Flint River over the years.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set a deadline of 2025 for the city to have the majority of the separation project completed, and if the deadline is not met, the city would be subject to fines of up to $50,000 per day.

“That will go on the people in this community who pay taxes,” Fletcher said. “Those $50,000 fines a day, seven days a week, is $350,000 a week. I said I would never be a part of raising utilities; I will never be a part of raising taxes. Healthy water is part of a healthy community.”

Fletcher also linked crime to the city and county’s economy as companies looking to locate in a community consider an area’s crime rate when looking to locate.

“If your economy falls apart and your safety falls apart … we lost 10,000 people in 10 years,” she said. “We can’t afford to lose 1,000 people a year. We have people who can’t afford to move. We have people who can’t afford to lose their safety.”

She also made an appeal for residents to get out and vote and let the better candidate win.

“That’s the most important thing you can do, to get out and participate,” she said. “Voting is priceless. It’s a privilege we have in this community and the United States of America.”

File Photo: Carlton FletcherSpecial Photo