Albany commission Ward III contest mirrors June special election

ALBANY – The election for Albany City Commission Ward II will be a rematch of sorts to a June special election. But this time there are only two candidates from the previous contest, and the winner will get a full four-year term.

Former Ward II Commissioner Henry Maths and the incumbent since the summer, Willie Weaver, will have a head-to-head faceoff for the Nov. 4 election, where the previous contest featured a third candidate. 

Weaver received 329 out of 640 votes cast in the June special election to fill the unexpired term of former Commissioner Jalen Johnson, who resigned in January, to narrowly avoid a runoff, with Mathis garnering 258 votes and former Dougherty County Commissioner Muarlean Edwards coming in third with 60 votes.

“There was very low turnout in that election,” Mathis said. “In my 41 years, I don’t recall an (city) election in June.”

A former commission member, Mathis has identified a list of issues, many of which date back to the 1980s and even before he came on the commission, shortly after Larry Bays succeeded James H. Gray Sr. after his death while in office.

Along with Bays, Mathis said he backed a forensic audit that examined the city’s spending and unveiled wasteful spending that could be targeted to address the city’s needs. He supports another forensic audit that he says he hopes would serve the same purpose. 

“From that point on, we moved the city forward,” Mathis said of the earlier audit. “There has never been a forensic audit since then.

“We want to know where the money is going. I will be asking for a resolution for a fiscal audit.”

Eliminating unnecessary spending through that process would provide money to address what he identifies as the first priority: public safety, specifically violent crime. Mathis favors an effort to put more officers on the street, part of three areas that he said are necessary to attract industrial development and jobs.

“One, you want to make sure the city is safe,” he said. “Two, you want to make sure the school system is great. Three, you need cultural and recreational activities. If the city is not safe, even in downtown, that’s a red flag.”

Based on a standard of 2 ½ to 3 officers per 1,000 in population, the city should have a police force of 220, which is well short of the current staffing, the candidate said. To attract and retain officers, he is proposing a starting salary of $60,000 per year, up from the current $53,000, and other incentives such as paying for officers’ college tuition.

“Then we have to look at community policing,” he said. “We have to have officers familiar with the communities, familiar with the beats, familiar with the people who live there. Public safety is the No. 1 issue. We want to make sure we have enough police, we’re fully staffed so we can reduce our response time. 

“Technology is good, (but) visibility creates a deterrence. There’s communities in Ward II that don’t see police. They don’t see a patrol car. My constituents don’t feel safe. Perception is reality. If we’re going to work with economic development, it’s got to be safe.”

That economic development would require local leaders working with the governor to bring projects to the city, Mathis said. East Albany has been hit with the closure of industries, most significantly Cooper Tire’s layoff of 1,400 workers in 2008.

Another area where the city has lost ground, in Mathis’ opinion, is recreation for young people. Programs like baseball and football seem to have fallen to the wayside.

“The kids have nothing to do now,” he said. “We’ve got to get them out of the house, get them off these mobile devices and we’ve got to get them energized.”

One idea Mathis said he would like to explore is a water park located at Chehaw Park & Zoo.

Other needs include housing, ensuring that the city is enforcing ordinances to address blight and junk vehicles, and making sure employees are paid fairly.

“Every city employee should make a livable wage,” Mathis said. “We’ve got employees who work 40 hours a week, and they don’t make as much money as some of these elected officials.”

The city once hosted SEC women’s basketball at the Albany Civic Center, Mathis said, but that is no longer the case.

“I have seen Albany at the best of times and the worst of times,” he said. “We are at a point where we have to bring back life to Albany, to make people want to come to Albany. We have a river, we have historic sites. Where there is no vision, the people perish.

“That’s why I’m running. I still have the energy. I have the knowledge.”

Although his time in office has been brief, the incumbent Weaver has weighed in on some issues that affect the city and Ward II, including helping decide that Albany Fire Station No. 2 is not placed in Tift Park. The location of the station at the park was a point of contention for nearby residents who protested the move when it was under consideration earlier this year.

“It’s been a roller coaster,” Weaver said. “The personalities are something a new commissioner has to get used to. You have to learn the knowledge to get the job done.”

The residents in the area wanted to keep the park’s history intact, he said. Firefighters who are stationed at the aging Palmyra Road site can be relocated at the downtown station for about a year during the construction process, either at the current location or elsewhere.

East Albany, the portion of Ward II located on the eastern side of the Flint River, has seen a decline. Working with Ward I Commissioner Jon Howard, whose territory includes the vast majority of east Albany, is part of Weaver’s strategy to address that situation. Work force housing that is affordable is also a key to the city’s future job growth.

For the previous several years, downtown development has played large for the commission, and that is one area where Weaver says he sees opportunity for immediate growth.

A number of projects are in the works, including the planned re-opening of the historic St. Nicholas Hotel before the end of the year, renovation of the former Davis Exchange building for an apartment development and a hotel project. 

The city has assisted with the privately funded St. Nicholas project with a commitment to renovate sidewalks and new street lights. Another project aimed at the area on North Washington Street would include luxury apartments and space for Albany Technical College’s off-campus culinary program.

“My leadership helped with that,” Weaver said. “What I would like to see is for that river to get developed. You look at Macon and Columbus. You can look at what other folks are doing. Albany could be the same way. We’ve got to develop it.”

Since 2019 the commission has taken two swings at developing the former Hotel Gordon/Water Gas & Light Commission and former Albany Herald buildings as a hotel complex. This month the city moved closer to signing a memorandum of understanding for a new developer to make that desire a reality. 

“In the 90 days I’ve been on the commission, I’ve learned a lot,” Weaver said. “The hotel, convention center and other things have to happen in order for Albany to be successful.” 

As a former Albany Municipal Court judge, Weaver made rehabilitation a component of sentencing, and he played a role in establishing the Albany Works program.

That program provides alternative sentencing as well as making resources including housing available for individuals willing to pursue education.

Sometimes something as simple as an unpaid ticket that leads to a driver’s license suspension can get a young person’s life off track in a big way as lack of an identification can close many avenues, Weaver said. Others are more complicated.

“We have a problem here,” he said. “We have children raising children. All this crime, some folks have not had the proper nurturing. We have to try to find the core problems we see and get them the resources they need.”

The Albany Police Department, faced with the same issue of low staffing that departments across the country face, has made strides in using technology, the incumbent commissioner said.

“The technology has done a lot for the city and for law enforcement,” he said.

Salary increases help, but in his conversations with officers who move on, Weaver said the biggest complaint is that even with more money there is little to do off-duty for single officers or those with families.

“They didn’t leave because of money, they left because there’s nothing to do,” he said.

One area where Weaver would like to get more involved is in attracting industries that bring jobs. 

“We have to do job training,” he said. “(Companies) look at crime, they look at the school system, what kind of housing we have here. If we’re not doing great on all three, then of course no business will want to come here. We’ve got to take care of all three.”

After months without any commissioner to respond to Ward III residents’ needs, the incumbent said that he has made that a big part of his role.

“They know where to find me, and I respond,” he said. “This is an important part. I’ve been responsive to the constituents, and not all of their (calls) are complaints. I take my grandchildren to the park. I’m approachable.”