Chad Warbington focused on jobs, growth, accountability

Final in a six-part series about the city of Albany’s Nov. 3 municipal election.

ALBANY — Businessman Chad Warbington has no problem pinpointing what he says is lacking in Albany’s city government.

“Probably what’s most frustrating to me about our City Commission is that there’s no clear vision,” said Warbington, who is challenging incumbent Ward IV City Commissioner Roger Marietta for his seat on that board. “Do our leaders know where they’re going or how they plan to get there? I’ve heard so many different plans thrown out over the last few years, but no one’s been willing to be a real leader and take the city’s destiny in their own hands and make things happen.”

Owner of the local Shutters Plus business that he’s expanded from a one-man to a 15-person operation and the Warbington Enterprises development firm, the Georgia Tech graduate who “fell in love with Albany” when he moved here to take a position with Procter & Gamble is making his first run for elected office.

Warbington stresses, though, that he has no interest in politics and he’s not a typical politician.

“When someone runs for office, the question everyone should ask is, ‘Why is this person running?’” the Ward IV challenger said. “I’m running for a simple reason: I’m totally committed to the city of Albany and I want to help make it as good as it can be. This is not about ego for me, and it’s not about money. I simply want to serve the people of this community.”

Warbington served as an appointed member of the Albany-Dougherty Economic Development Commission and the Albany Utility Board before stepping down from each to focus on his run for office. He said he gained enough first-hand knowledge in those positions to realize the city has internal issues.

“I think, to a degree, some of our city officials have lost sight of why the utility was formed,” Warbington said. “Protecting our citizens should always be our No. 1 concern. But our focus is on other things, like transferring as much money as possible to the city. I would venture to say that 99 percent of the people in our community are not aware that the Utility Board doubled the amount of money it transferred to the city in the three years that I served on its board.

“There is a lack of transparency when it comes to our utilities. The ratepayers should be able to look at their bill and see how much they’re paying for usage and how much is going to the city. They should be able to hold the Utility Board and city accountable. Certainly the city should benefit from having a utility, but it becomes too easy to just say, ‘We need more money.’”

Warbington said that while his and Marietta’s campaigns have grown heated at times, his primary concern as challenger is to interact with the citizens of Ward IV to determine what issues matter most to them. He said he’s focused on three such issues.

“I’ve knocked on around 500 doors so far, and what I’m hearing is that the citizens are concerned about jobs, growth and transparency in the city government,” the businessman said. “I don’t think my opponent brings much to the table when it comes to those issues. I’ve heard people say, ‘Well, he responds to my calls,’ but a true leader is not reactive. If someone comes to me with an issue, I will say, ‘Let’s fix it and figure out how to keep it from happening again.’

“That goes back to my business. In the business world, you can’t be reactive. You have to have the philosophy of constantly looking at what you’ve done to determine where you go in the future. I’ve asked city officials, essentially, how the city did last year. I want to know if they propped up their business with MEAG (Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia) credits or if they put that money away. I’m three months removed from my question, and I still haven’t gotten an answer.”

Warbington said that while he is a novice to the business of government, some concerns are too obvious not to question.

“I was amazed that, until I was appointed, there was no utility involvement on the EDC board,” he said. “That should be a given. There should be a hotline from the EDC offices to the Utility Board. There are so many opportunities to incentivize businesses.

“And while I believe the city’s biggest asset is its employees, I’ve been amazed at the City Commission’s reaction to the $4.5 million it saved in salaries after making employee cuts. Rather than looking at that funding and seeing how it could impact the city long-term, it’s like our leaders are saying, ‘We have $4.5 million, how can we spend it?’ I don’t think anyone’s looking at the reality that when you do certain things with your funding, it’s going to be hard not to do it again and again.”

Warbington said he plans to bring a new level of accountability to the city government.

“The first thing I plan to do when I go onto the commission in January is ask for a six-month update on the budget,” he said. “I know first-hand that what’s in place is a very aggressive budget, and we can’t wait until June 1 to ask these kinds of questions. We have to be carefully managing taxpayers’ money.”