Albany’s, longest-serving commissioner, Jon Howard, seeks Ward I re-election

ALBANY — Jon Howard first took office as Albany’s Ward I commissioner in 1994. He’s running to maintain this position nearly 30 years later with a focus on unfinished city business, he said.

Albany’s combined sewer project, affordable housing as well as health and food disparities on the east side of the city are just a few of the issue’s Howard said he is not finished seeking out solutions for.

The commissioner points to multiple standout achievements during his time in office.

Creating a city employee health clinic in 2010 made health care for hundreds of city employees and their spouses more affordable and accessible, he said.

Howard was instrumental in a joint city/county decision to improve road infrastructure in front of the Walmart in east Albany, he said, noting that that side of town grapples with a food desert.

More than $800,000 was given to redesign the ingress and egress into the retailer to make sure Walmart would remain at that location, Howard said.

The city, along with county leadership and law enforcement, pushed for combining of the Albany-Dougherty Drug Unit and the Albany Police Departments Gang Task Force into a single entity. That decision allows these units to more effectively tackle drug crime and gang violence throughout Albany, as many times these crimes go hand in hand, Howard said,.

The commissioner spearheaded the addition of a public pool in East Albany between 2015 and 2016. A high number of black people don’t know how to swim nationwide because of a lack of access, he said.

Accidental drowning is a leading cause of death among black youths, the CDC reports.

Staying on the recreation track, Howard said he was most recently involved in a city vote to provide more than $20 million to renovate and rehab multiple gyms throughout the city: Henderson Gym, Driskell Park, Carver Gym and the Bill Miller Community Center. Once renovations are complete, he said he plans to push the creation of after-school programs like science and technology tutoring at these centers.

The Ward I commissioner lists a number of priorities for another term in office.

Separating Albany’s sewage and stormwater is the most major and expensive task the commission has taken on during his three decades in office, Howard said. He wants to see it through to its June 2025 deadline.

“We’ve certainly got to push, push, push to make sure to meet that date,” Howard said.

Flooding, which is exacerbated by the sewer issues, along the lift stations on the east side of the river and in the downtown area needs to be addressed as well, Howard said.

The pipes are too small to capture all the stormwater, creating heavy flooding on Mobile Avenue, Broad Avenue and South Davis Street, he said.

“We’ve got to make sure the CSS is going to work and that we are going to continue to monitor it,” Howard said.

He also said he wants to see more community education on the sewer project.

“The average citizen … may say, ‘I’m not concerned about what’s underground,’” he said. “Once you flush your commode … use kitchen water … water the grass… all that goes into the sewer underground.”

Residents of Howard’s ward face the bulk of the systemic disparities that exist within Albany, the commissioner said, noting minority community members are more likely to suffer from chronic illnesses like diabetes.

He said he plans to push for education on healthy eating habits among constituents as well as push for partnerships with Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital to host community classes on some of these health concerns.

Howard said he wants to see the public engaged, informed and participating in these conversations.

Poverty level disparity is another issue at the forefront of Howard’s campaign.

Albany’s poverty level is more than 30%, he said. In east Albany, that level is higher than 40%. If re-elected, Howard said he plans to push the mayor and other commissioners to organize a task force to address some of the issues that may be behind these levels.

One is high school graduation, retention and dropout rates. However, these systemic problems can’t be solved in short-term solutions, Howard said.

“It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon,” the commissioner said.

In order to draw new jobs and industries into the city, Howard said he sees the need to retain young workers. To do this, he said he wants to see greater involvement with Albany State University and Albany Technical College as well as opportunities like local internships for these students.

Affordable housing throughout Albany is another highly discussed topic. It’s an issue that especially impacts his ward, Howard said. There are more than 30,000 households in the city and 60% of the population are renters rather than owners, which is above the state average, he said.

The city needs to increase affordable housing and work force housing as well as hold slumlords accountable. The properties owned by these landlords are often outdated and poorly insulated, Howard said, leading to higher utility and power costs. He wants to tackle getting rid of slum and blighted properties.

City leadership needs to implement the “three P’s” — public, private and partnership — when developers come in to survey the city. Howard said he also wants to set short- and long-term housing creation goals. For example, the short-term could look like setting a goal of building 50 homes in 2024. Long-term could look like committing to building 500 homes in the next five years, he said.

Ultimately, Howard said he is committed to open communication and conversations among city and community leaders as well as his constituents.

He’d like to see regular dinners held with school board members as well as elected officials on the city, county and state level, to boost discussion on problems and solutions throughout southwest Georgia, Howard said.

He wants to extend the olive branch and increase collaboration.

“Based on my track record, I’ve been successful, open-minded, concerned and dedicated,” he said.

He added that he hopes his constituents, who he’s often referred to as “family,” see this as well as they enter the polls for early voting and on election day.

Photo Courtesy of Jon Howard