Albany State University professor calls for impeachment of mayor, commissioners

ALBANY — An Albany State University professor has sent a letter to the Albany City Commission calling for an “impeachment investigation” into actions he said were committed by Mayor Bo Dorough and Commissioners Chad Warbington and B.J. Fletcher.

James B. Pratt Jr. accused the city leaders of abuse of powers, neglect of duties, and first amendment violations. He also asked for “an ethics investigation of (assistant city manager) Barry Brooks and (assistant city clerk) Sissy Kelly for collusion to obstruct and to cultivate a culture of obstruction as well as misrepresentation of official correspondence and communication.”

Pratt said his complaint centers around the city’s “refusal” to allow him and other concerned citizens to speak about the city’s “sagging pants ordinance” during commission meetings, actions that he said were “seemingly due to racial animus and/or personal vendetta.”

“This is not personal on my part,” Pratt said after sending a letter to members of the commission prior to Tuesday’s commission work session. “It’s just that when elected officials threaten the First Amendment of our constitution, that’s a dangerous situation.”

In his letter, Pratt wrote:

Of central concern are violations to first amendment rights seemingly due to racial animus and/or personal vendetta. This call for impeach(ment) results from the Mayor’s refusal to allow Kiaira Jackson, then president of the Albany/Dougherty branch of the NAACP, and Dedrick Thomas, then a resident, (to speak) on an ordinance that infringes upon civil rights and with a clear racial animus in background and application — called often the “sagging pants ordinance.”

This was at the beginning of 2021, and both requested to speak at a work session meeting before the COVID-19 pandemic officially began in late February. This denial is of deep concern, since the NAACP has historically been an organization tasked with fighting for equal rights for all people, particularly those at the margins.

Pratt said he singled out Dorough, Warbington and Fletcher because he spoke directly with each of them about the ordinance in question.

“This refusal is serious and concerning given the mayor’s complicity in other acts that illustrate a racial animus along with abuse of power and neglect of duties,” Pratt said in his letter. “The author of this letter, upon the mayor’s election, met with the mayor and before leaving was threatened that if anyone knew of this meeting, the mayor and the author would not ever meet again. This threat was on the heels of the mayor comparing a request for support for making Juneteenth a holiday with “how would Confederates feel about this?”

Dorough called Pratt’s accusations “asinine” and said a meeting with the professor did not happen the way he recounted it.

“I’m not going to talk about this, other than to say I had lunch with Mr. Pratt, at which time he set forth what he said were his priorities for the city,” Dorough said after the commission meeting. “It was not a productive meeting, but it was in no way an unpleasant encounter.

“His accusation that I threatened him is asinine, and it is untrue.”

Pratt said he talked directly with Warbington and Fletcher about his concerns, but neither took action, constituting a “neglect of duties.”

Fletcher said Pratt is in danger of “crying wolf so often that when he comes up with a good idea,” everyone may not take him as seriously as he should be taken.

“I’d like for James Pratt to answer these questions: What neglect of duties? What abuse of power? What first amendment violation?” the Ward III commissioner said Tuesday. “When have we intentionally stopped anyone from speaking?

“I try to give Dr. Pratt the respect he deserves, but he talks about decriminalizing marijuana while at the same time putting a moratorium on alcohol licenses. It doesn’t make sense. I can tell you, a lot of those small businesses in south and east Albany would have a tough time getting by without their alcohol licenses.”

Fletcher said she supported the city’s so-called saggy pants ordinance out of her respect for late Commissioner Tommie Postell, a man she called her mentor on the board.

“I went to Mr. Postell’s house and talked with him,” she said. “That man lived the civil rights era. He told me plainly that it would be young black men who would be charged with the ordinance, and he wanted it to serve as an incentive to keep them from going backwards.

“I supported keeping this ordinance out of my respect for Tommie Postell.”

Fletcher also said she’d “broken bread with Mr. Pratt, talked with him about issues that concerned him.”

“But,” she said, “my duty is not simply to appease James Pratt. And I am going to stand up for my mayor, my fellow commissioners and our department heads.”

Pratt said he’d talked with Commissioners Jon Howard and Demetrius Young about the saggy pants ordinance but that “the discussion did not reach the level of that with the other commissioners.”

In his letter, Pratt said Brooks and Kelly contributed to “silencing” individuals who asked to speak at previous commission meetings.

Mr. Brooks and Ms. Kelly contributed to the silencing of Ms. Jackson and the author of this later when (they) subsequently signed up to speak during the summer of 2021. An Open Records request and an email unintentionally sent from Ms. Kelly to the author helped illustrate a culture of instruction by framing those fighting for civil rights and against racism as “the usual suspects.” … Mr. Brooks and Ms. Kelly both refused to initially assist in remedying another instance where the author and Ms. Jackson were not allowed to speak on the sagging ordinance — this time during the moment of the critical vote on the issue.

Mr. Brooks initially refused to assist in coordinating with the city manager and board to allow for Ms. Jackson and the author the speak. Mr. Brooks also made false statements of the author that were conveyed to the mayor and clerk, which further reinforced a culture of misinformation, obstruction, and violation of first amendment rights. Mr. Brooks continuously refused to provide requested documentation, further dragging along an already arduous process.

Pratt said he fears a culture now exists in which citizens are denied their rights by the commission.

It is my fear that others who approach the board with concerns around systemic racism and other forms of structural and cultural harm will continue to be shunned, ignored, and ultimately disempowered. … This letter serves to officially call for impeachment as laid out in the city of Albany’s charter. … I look forward to discussing these issues further. I hope that the board takes this seriously and can see that the author has only been invested in collaboration and moving the city forward.

Commissioner Chad Warbington had not responded to an Albany Herald phone call seeking comment by the newspaper’s press time.

File Photo: Carlton Fletcher