Henry Mathis says he is ‘looking into’ possible Albany mayoral run

ALBANY — In what was a thinly-veiled first volley in his expected run for the mayor’s office, former Albany City Commissioner Henry Mathis chastised the current commission at its work session Tuesday morning for not returning Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia credits to the Water, Gas & Light Commission’s ratepayers.

Mathis, who said after the meeting he had put together a mayoral exploratory committee that “transcends gender, racial and social lines,” has long made it clear that he wants to run for the mayor’s office. He said Tuesday he’d cleared issues surrounding his 2005 conviction on extortion charges while serving on the commission and is eligible to seek office.

“America is a land of second chances, and although I shouldn’t have to ask for a second chance, I have paid the debt I was forced to pay in full,” Mathis said. “I recently returned from a vacation trip to Europe with my family, and during my time there I took a long look at Albany. I didn’t like the picture. I feel there is a lack of visionary leadership in our community.”

City Attorney Nathan Davis said after Tuesday’s commission meeting that while some convicted felons are disqualified from voting or holding office, their punishment does not always carry “blanket disqualification.” Davis said Mathis’s right to vote and run for elected office could be restored under certain circumstances.

Mathis addressed the commission asking that it use a portion of returned credits from MEAG that are expected to total between $80 million and $100 million by 2018 to benefit ratepayers of the utility.

“If you used just one month of the credits, you could phase in a program based on demographics to replace old incandescent bulbs with energy-efficient CFL and LED bulbs,” Mathis said. “And if you used one more month of credits, you could supply the poorer ratepayers with energy-efficient appliances. Suddenly, some of our poorer citizens would have a little expendable income to spend at all these restaurants and Dollar Generals we’re getting.”

Ward VI Commissioner Tommie Postell said he did not favor a program that offered cost-saving opportunities only to certain segments of the community.

“I don’t think we can help one and not another,” Postell said. “We have to help all ratepayers, not just some.”

Mathis said his proposal “does not exclude anybody, it’s color-blind.” He also said after the meeting that property owners in the city have indicated to him that they would “match, dollar-for-dollar” any upgrade grants offered by the city to help improve energy efficiency in their properties.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the commission also voted to table a request for approval of a proposal previously OK’d by the city’s Long-Term Financial Planning Committee for a “loan” of $3.5 million from the city’s Deal-Closing Fund for needed renovations on the Water, Gas & Light Commission’s offices at 207 Pine Ave. Ward IV Commissioner Roger Marietta asked to table the matter to give staff time to prepare cost analyses on construction of a new utilities building or an alternate location.

“This would be easier to evaluate with comparisons,” Marietta said.

Ward I’s Jon Howard said he’d like the analysis to include “using the $3.5 million to look into the construction of a new building from the ground-up,” but Postell said that possibility is not feasible.

“A new building’s not going to cost $3.5 million, it will cost more in the neighborhood of $12 million to $15 million,” the Ward VI commissioner said. “And we need to remember, as Commissioner (B.J.) Fletcher has said, that (WG&L) building is a huge part of downtown Albany. Our downtown was raped in the ’60s when they took out all the businesses and put these government buildings in their place, and I don’t see where we could move Water, Gas & Light from downtown.”

Ward II’s Bobby Coleman said he’s concerned about the impression the $3.5 million renovation project would send to citizens.

“I wonder how I’m going to tell my constituents why we’re doing all this talk about saving money for that ‘demon’ that’s 2018 (when MEAG credits end) and then spending money like a drunken soldier,” Coleman said.

Fletcher said she’s encountered “the good with the bad” customer service among city departments while trying to complete requirements to open her Open Roads restaurant at the former Texas Star location on Dawson Road and wants to discuss that matter with the full board. “Since it involves city personnel, it might need to be one of those executive session discussions,” she said.

The Ward III commissioner also said she is concerned about ongoing infrastructure issues encountered by citizens during bad weather.

After an executive session called to discuss pending litigation, the board reconvened and voted to approve a $90,000 lump-sum payment to Frederick Harris to clear a worker’s compensation claim.