Hubbard seeking third term to ‘finish projects’ that are under way

Editor’s Note: This is the sixth in a series of articles about the candidates seeking office in Albany’s Nov. 5 municipal election.

ALBANY – If Albany Mayor Dorothy Hubbard was in search of a re-election slogan, one possibility would be: “Some things may be broken, but we’re fixing them.”

“We, like any other city with as many people as we have, have major issues,” said Hubbard, who is seeking a third term in the city’s Nov. 5 municipal election. “But you have to work on them, and you have to work together.

“I think one of my strong suits is getting people to work together, and I want to continue to do that.”

In the past few years, much of the city’s efforts have been devoted toward preparing for, and recovering from, a slew of natural disasters. Hubbard, a retired educator, said she would give the city high marks for its work during those trying times.

“I think, the first thing, we weathered the storms – tornadoes, straight-line winds, Hurricane Michael, the remnants of Hurricane Irma,” she said. “The way we weathered the storms, to get through them with a minimal loss of life, was a testament to the work the city staff does, the city does. To get through all that was a major feat, I think.”

As a retiree, Hubbard said, she has the time to go to Washington, D.C., as she did after the storm, to seek assistance from federal lawmakers or to meet on the spur of the moment with an industrial prospect as she did one day recently.

On the list of “needs fixing,” Hubbard placed the city’s high crime rate.

“I consider crime as a No. 1 issue,” she said. “Crime and public safety have been the No. 1 priority as long as I have been on the (Albany City) Commission. We have done some things to work on crime. We will continue to do that.”

The City and Dougherty County commissions recently worked together to have the Georgia Bureau of Investigation move its Regional Drug Enforcement Office from Sylvester to Albany. Leaders say they think that having the presence of more drug-enforcement officers — and the cooperation it could produce with police agencies in Dougherty County — could have a positive impact on drug-related crimes.

Local law enforcement has worked with the GBI and FBI on a number of investigations in the past, Hubbard said.

The mayor also pointed to the Safe City Coalition formed in 2017 as a plus.

“The Safe City Coalition has put together a strategic plan that is being implemented by the police,” she said, noting also that the Albany Police Department has worked to bring a conflict resolution center to the community.

The commission also has worked in seeking and getting grant money for equipment, and supported an initiative to fill vacant positions on the police force.

“We have given the chief the things he needs to attract officers,” she said. “I think we as a community have to get behind crime. I think we have to be willing to say something when we see something, and not to walk around with our heads in the sand.”

If a parent or guardian suspects a child is in danger of getting involved, for example, they should intervene, Hubbard said.

“We are not pleased with where we are, but we will work to get to where we want to be on crime,” she said. “It’s going to take all of us working together. With all of us working together, that is how we will solve our issues within our community.”

Another significant issue, which will take significant spending to address, is not so obvious. It’s buried deep underground.

But when sewage backs up or spills into a neighborhood or the Flint River, it’s impossible to ignore.

“We have an engineering firm working with us to work a plan to tell us what needs to be done and how much it’s going to cost to get it done,” Hubbard said. “One thing we have done is leverage our funds to get matching (grant) funds to offset our costs.”

The consultant is doing tests to determine what needs to be fixed in the short-term and will develop a long-term plan for the sewage system.

Downtown Albany is coming back to life, featuring the Flint RiverQuarium, Thronateeska Heritage Center and the Civil Rights Museum, and the coming Flint River Trail and the move of the Albany Museum of Art, Hubbard said. The trail will allow people to move around the area and exercise.

“One of the visions I have is we will be able to host conventions,” she said. “We think with additional hotel space we will be able to do that.

“We think we have done a pretty good job,” Hubbard said of herself and commissioners. “We have a number of other things in the pipeline.”

Staff Photo: Alan Mauldin
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