CARLTON FLETCHER: Tom Berry’s departure has city of Albany at fork in the road

There’s a fork in the road ahead. I don’t know which way I’m gonna turn.

— Neil Young

As so often is the case in the history of any place, the city of Albany finds itself now at a clearly defined fork in the road, facing choices that will lead it down one path or another.

And as the poet Robert Frost told us, such choices can make “all the difference.”

Perhaps the most important choice facing the city is one that must be made by the Albany City Commission. That seven-member panel elected to represent the city’s various wards must decide who will be Albany’s next city manager. Understandably, no one person at any level of government can singlehandedly make or break the fortunes of an entity he or she represents. But bad decisions either unilaterally enacted or endorsed by one in such an authoritative post could alter the fortunes of the city for years and even decades to come.

(Need a quick example? Think about the decision to accept as a “gift” the radiator shop and land located along the eastern banks of the Flint River. Years and years and millions of dollars in environmental cleanup later, that land still hangs as an albatross around the city’s collective neck.)

Reportedly, the commission’s contentious vetting process has left Douglas City Manager Terrell Jacobs and Assistant Hillsborough County (Tampa, Fla.) Administrator Sharon Subadan as the last city manager candidates of five finalists standing. Both are, according to city officials who’ve met and talked with them, capable. (It should be pointed out, though, that neither knows much more than a hill of beans about this city.) Of course, people who can put together a good resume and give a good interview are as common as gnats on a Georgia summer day.

What’s a good bit more difficult is finding the person who fits in the community, someone who can come in and tackle the city’s unique issues and work with the commission to find best solutions. That’s oftentimes way easier said than done.

Even if, as some claim, running one city is pretty much the same as running another, even the best colleges don’t have classes that teach managers how to respond to the personalities of the elected officials or the various factions of a community’s population without first spending time with those officials and citizens.

Tom Berry — whose ascension from angry, resigned utilities manager to city manager is still one of the most astounding political rebirth stories I’ve ever heard or, especially, seen — led a surprisingly unified City Commission for the first eight months or so of his 10-month tenure. His leadership has been vital in bringing about necessary changes that have, at the very least, prepared the city for what lies ahead.

But as it became clearer and clearer over the last couple of months that Berry was ready to move on, the foundation of the commission’s seeming unity has shown signs of crumbling. Much of it has to do with the age-old bugaboos that always come into play in such situations: the politics of race, lust for power and what animal experts refer to as territorial marking.

Those who follow the goings-on of their elected leaders only through the occasional sound bite or gossip gathering are blissfully unaware of the various agendas that have been laid out before any commissioner willing to listen. That some who are pushing these agendas have the ears of certain commission members is maybe one of the most frightening notions the city faces.

As Berry — and millions before him in cities all over the world — can attest, trying to convince individuals whose eyes are on a more individual than collective prize to move a community forward toward a more prosperous future is akin to talking a junkie into giving up his vice cold turkey. He might know what’s best for him, but he just can’t help himself.

Berry and the City Commission accomplished much during his tenure. But he left a number of key issues unfinished, with plans in place to bring them to fruition. How well the new city manager, who is expected to be announced Tuesday; the City Commission, and city employees carry out or improve on those plans will go a long way in determining whether Albany takes a giant stride or two forward or several stumbling steps back.

Email Carlton Fletcher at [email protected].