Former Dougherty Commissioner Harry James challenges ‘dean of legislature,’ Gerald Greene

ALBANY – State Rep. Gerald Greene’s name is well-known throughout District 154, and he is the longest-serving elected representative in the Georgia Legislature. Harry James has also been active in politics for decades and has continued to participate since his stint as a Dougherty County Commissioner.

James, the Democratic Party nominee, and Greene, the incumbent Republican, are set to vie for a two-year term in the district that includes eight southwest Georgia counties and a portion of Dougherty County.

The two expressed that they have had an amicable relationship over the years, and identified some of the same issues as priorities for the district that includes Baker, Calhoun, Clay, Early, Miller, Quitman, Randolph and Seminole counties as well as the bottom half of Dougherty County stretching to the Flint River.

Greene, a retired educator who was first elected in 1982, said that he is seeking another two years to usher through some of the projects he has worked on during his tenure, including the revitalization effort at Radium Springs near Albany, for which he got an appropriation of $400,000 last year, and a Dougherty County library. Some of the other projects he said he has supported include the widening of U.S. Highway 27/State Route 1, work at George T. Bagby State Park and preservation work in the Okefenokee Swamp.

“You get to the point that you want to finish your projects,” he said. “The only way to do it is to run again and get those things in line. I wanted to do Radium Springs, Westtown Library. The only way to do it is to run again and get them over the finish line.

“We’ve been helping the people at Lake Seminole to break up the invasive species, and it looks great. We’re taking the lake back because we’ve put monies in there. Because we did that, the federal government is now matching our (contribution). As we roll through the counties, there are so many needs.”

One of the biggest needs for the region is infrastructure, the incumbent said.

“Our infrastructure is wearing out,” he said. “Those grants from the federal government are gone, so it’s up to the state to help them with grants. Water, sewer, housing … it’s a lot of these things. If you’re going to have industry, you have got to have somewhere decent for people to live. That’s why it’s important to promote our schools, promote housing, to provide for our workforce.”

Among the committees Greene sits on are Appropriations and Rural Development, which address some of the issues that he mentioned. His other committees are State Properties, Economic Development and Tourism, Public Safety and Homeland Security, Retirement and Rules.

Some of those committee assignments are not ones on which a novice lawmaker can expect to be placed, Greene said. And those assignments help him bring home resources to address some of the district’s needs.

“As a legislator, it means a lot when it comes to seniority,” he said. “That puts one in a better leadership role. When you’re out there with the people you love and you’re out in the district, that gives you something to do every single day.”

James, known for his white cowboy hat, is the owner and operator of construction firm James Unlimited. He also has served as an adjunct professor at both Albany Technical College and South Georgia Technical College in the past.

For his campaign, James has identified healthcare, housing, jobs and education as the most pressing issues for District 154’s residents. 

After serving on the Dougherty County Commission from 2012 through 2014, the candidate has kept up with political issues as a member of the Dougherty County Democratic Committee and in most years attending the Association County Commissioners of Georgia’s annual meetings. 

During his time on the commission, he was elected as president of the Georgia Association of Black County Officials, a title he held for two years after leaving elected office. 

“I’m running because I always wanted to serve to make it better for my community and the people of the community and to advocate for the people who cannot be at the table to advocate for themselves,” James said.

Of his four identified issues, he identified healthcare as the top need in the rural district.

“In District 154, there is a healthcare desert,” James said. “For most of the district outside Dougherty County, they’re having to drive an hour, an hour and a half for healthcare.”

State lawmakers’ refusal to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act has led to hospital closures and affected rural residents’ ability to access healthcare in a timely manner, James said. As a state representative, he said he would work to move Georgia out of the group of 10 states that have not taken that step.

“(The lack of) Medicaid expansion has crippled a lot of rural hospitals,” James said. “There’s a great need for healthcare for the people of District 154.”

On education, James said that a map in late Albany Tech President Anthony Parker’s office told a vivid story. The map showed the areas of the city where the population had the most- and the least-educated residents.

“When you looked at where the least-educated live, that’s where the crime is,” he said. “Education is the foundation. That’s where you’re talking about industry, you’re talking about jobs. The better people are educated, the better chance we have to draw in industry for better-paying jobs.”

While Albany State University draws in students, those students graduate and leave for better opportunities elsewhere, and local students who pursue education after high school often do not return, James said.

“Our best and brightest don’t come home because we don’t have the jobs for the lives they live or want to live,” he said. “The loss of population is due to the lack of quality housing, quality jobs. People are going to go to where their needs are met. It boils down to what do you have to offer for work and play.”

Data centers have been a big, and controversial, issue in the region in recent months, and on that topic James and Greene gave a similar response: Leave the decision on whether to host one to local officials who can use permitting regulations and negotiation skills to ensure that the facilities will not be a nuisance and, if allowed, that they will be an economic benefit to residents.

While James does not have the years in state government that his opponent has, he said that he has made and kept close contacts with elected officials throughout the state for years. Those relationships will be of service to him in working for the district.

“The relationship part we’ve already built through my participation at ACCG meetings,” he said. “Most politicians in office refer to me as the black politician with the cowboy hat. 

“Gov. (Brian) Kemp, I have a great relationship with him. I’ve got a relationship with many people in office now. That’s one of the advantages, these relationships. I believe experience matters, relationships matter, the voice of the people you serve matters.”