Albany leaders have one eye on 2015, the other on 2018

ALBANY — With what Assistant City Manager Stephen Collier calls “our own very real fiscal cliff” never far from their minds, Albany’s city commissioners will head to Lake Blackshear in late February for a retreat that they say is vital to the community’s future.

At the Veterans Park resort in Crisp County, commissioners will spend a couple of days discussing management options with an eye toward interim City Manager Tom Berry’s imminent departure, on personnel issues as they ponder the impact early retirement incentives will have on a staff reduction they say is necessary, and on wished-for downtown redevelopment that’s gone nowhere under the latest in a long line of failed plans and broken promises.

Hovering over all of those issues — and many others — is the specter of yearly revenue reductions that will be in the millions of dollars once credits from the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia stop coming in Dec. 31, 2018.

“The retreat really sets the tone for the commission each year,” Ward VI Commissioner Tommie Postell said. “It’s a cohesive thing, gives the board members an opportunity to focus their attention on the things that impact our city and our constituents before we all come back to the city and scatter. It’s a very good thing for us.”

Gordon Maner of the University of Georgia-based Carl Vinson Institute of Government will serve as facilitator during the retreat, which was scheduled for today and Monday. If early conversations with commissioners offer a true picture of their expectations, Maner will find a group bent on tackling the city’s most glaring needs.

And much of the talk will center on money.

“There are any number of issues that we’ll discuss,” Ward V Commissioner Bob Langstaff said. “Some of them are crucial to the overall well-being of the city, and some are specific to each commissioner and each ward.

“In the end, though, it all comes down to revenue.”

Berry, who has served as Albany’s city manager since July, has one eye on finding his replacement as he manages the day-to-day operations of the city government. But he’s also neck-deep in a citywide restructuring designed to cut millions from what he calls a bloated annual budget while increasing revenue.

“One of the things I hope is that (at the retreat) we’ll have a better picture of where we’re going with our retirement incentive/staff reduction issue,” Berry said. “I’m sure there will be organizational discussions and talk about where we’re going downtown.

“We’ll also go over general updates on things we don’t have a lot of time to discuss during commission meetings. Our overall goal will be to set the tone for the commission for the coming year. What we discuss will roll over to our staff retreat (which will be held in town) and give our department heads guidance for setting internal goals.”

In individual conversations, the seven city commissioners talked about the issues they’re expecting to tackle in 2015.

JON HOWARD, WARD I: “We’ve kind of alluded to this lately, and I know statistics say that crime is down in the community, but I’m a commissioner and I will tell you that there are places in the city where I don’t feel safe. We have this millennium generation coming along that has no skills, no moral values and no work ethic. That’s a huge social problem that we keep sweeping under the rug. How we deal with this issue is going to determine the fabric not just of this city, but this nation.

“We’ve got to make sure we structure these personnel cuts the right way. I want there to be some kind of limitation on it because we need a certain level of continuity. We’ve also got to do everything in our power to maintain business and industry here.”

BOBBY COLEMAN, WARD II: “As elected officials, we’ve got to be more attentive to what the general public is saying. Everyone’s talking about high utility costs and taxpayers getting nothing in return for the money they’re paying. We have to have those taxpayers in mind in everything we do, including dealing with the (early) retirement issue and just who qualifies.

“There’s a period of time on the commission where you listen and learn, and I’ve been through that. Now I’m committed to challenging the things that I think are hurting our community and bringing about change to address those issues. We’ve got to be attentive to our taxpayers, to listening to their needs and taking better care of their money.”

B.J. FLETCHER, WARD III: “We can’t undo the things that have been done here in the past, but what we have to do while we’re taking care of the city’s needs over this next year is to focus on 2018 and how we’ll address our budget concerns once the MEAG money stops coming in. And we’ve got to turn our attention to downtown. Even people who have given up on downtown have to realize how important it is to have a thriving central business district.

“I think we’ve also got to take a good look at the customer service our employees are giving. I can tell you from firsthand experience, we’ve got everything from heroes to zeroes among our personnel. We’ve got to become more business-friendly, and you do that by providing first-class customer service. Some of our folks don’t get that. I also think it’s important that we make an effort to reach out to our constituents so that everyone in the city knows who their representative is.”

ROGER MARIETTA, WARD IV: “We have to show the people of this community that we’re fighting for them. Yes, we want to present a certain quality of life to preserve our tax base, but there are certain basic issues that we have to focus on. We want to improve our employees’ pay, but we have to do it in a way that doesn’t leave us with a deficit, especially with the decline in MEAG revenue in 2018.

“We have to be vigilant of our spending. For everything that costs more money, we have to be able to increase our reserves at a similar level. It’s a balancing act. One of the things that I really like about serving on this commission is that everyone seems to understand that reality. We’re all working on this as a team.”

BOB LANGSTAFF, WARD V: “Figuring out our budget in light of the MEAG credits going away, that is a major, major deal. One of the things I like about Tom’s leadership is that he’s working with us to provide ways to make necessary cuts while increasing revenue, and not on the backs of our citizens. Everyone is discussing cost-cutting measures, and I’m sure by the time we meet for our retreat, we’ll have some ideas on how to accomplish that.

“When you look at the early-retirement proposal, I think you have to be prepared for the ‘brain drain,’ too. That could mean hiring consultants in the short term or looking at outsourcing. As a member of the Aviation Commission, there are issues we have to address at the (Southwest Georgia Regional) Airport, and whether it makes better sense to privatize all of our garbage collections or do it all ourselves. These are all key financial issues.”

TOMMIE POSTELL, WARD VI: “We’ve taken some steps in the right direction by combining some of the city and Water, Gas & Light (now Albany Utility Board) departments, and we’re looking to cut costs with an early-retirement program. Those should give us positive results. We’ve got to pay the same kind of attention to our downtown, get on board with Mrs. (interim Downtown Manager Sharlene) Cannon and find ways to make some needed changes.

“There are other issues that are concerns — like we’re working to adequately light the portion of South Westover Boulevard near the fairgrounds — and we’ll have an opportunity to give those the proper amount of attention while we’re there focusing on our community.”

MAYOR DOROTHY HUBBARD: “We have to review the changes and efficiencies we’ve already introduced and determine if they’re having the desired impact. We have to have a workable plan in place as we look to 2018. As we look at improving downtown, I think it gives us an opportunity to take a closer look at ADICA (Albany-Dougherty Inner City Authority) to determine their effectiveness. We owe it to our taxpayers to take a closer look at all the entities that report to us.

“I think we also need to start looking toward the next SPLOST (special-purpose local-option sales tax) process and how we’ll inform the public about the SPLOST. There’s a lot of negativity about taxes in our community and in the entire country, so I think it’s important that we let our taxpayers know where their SPLOST pennies have gone.”