Is businesswoman B.J. Fletcher considering another run for office?

ALBANY — Will she or won’t she?

That’s the question businesswoman and former Albany City Commissioner B.J. Fletcher faced following a conversation about the outcome of the recent presidential election and controversies surrounding the local government … as in: Will she run for office again or will she continue to work from the sidelines?

“Fourteen years ago when I first ran for office, you asked me the question of why I was running for office,” Fletcher said. “I told you then I could leave the area or try to make it better. Nothing’s changed. I still want to make this community better; I still love Albany. I was born here, and it’s up to me whether I want to continue to try and make a difference or just give up. But I’m not a quitter.”

Fletcher said that while the divisive presidential election won by Republican Donald Trump is an opportunity to start, as Trump’s slogan suggests, to make America great again, she’d like to see that slogan expanded into the communities of southwest Georgia.

“I look at the mess our world’s in now, and I’m concerned, not just for our country but for the citizens of the world,” she said. “I have a friend from Poland, and the war in Ukraine is impacting her nation greatly. Refugees are fleeing into Poland to try and escape the war.

“I think it’s important that America step up and become a world power again. That’s going to take all of us getting involved, though. We voted for one man, but no one person can change the world by himself. And, I’d like to see us extend that slogan, not just focus on making America great again but on making Albany great again. We’re down to 70,000 citizens now, and the losses concern me.”

To make changes in the community, Fletcher said it’s time for local leaders to start doing things to improve, not divide it.

“We need to quit voting color, voting according to which church a person attends, voting for someone with pretty teeth,” she said. “It’s high time we started voting country, voting community.

“We need to find, essentially, seven people who want to make Albany great again.”

Given that, will Fletcher throw her hat back into the ring in an effort to be one of those seven, either as a candidate for mayor or the Ward V seat currently held by Bob Langstaff?

“You’re asking if this is a shot across the bow?” she said. “That’s not something I’m ready to discuss right now. But I can promise you this: If things don’t improve, I will work my hardest to find seven people who want to make this community better. And I will not let either of those races go uncontested.

“I gave eight years to this community, and in the two years since I’ve been off the commission, I haven’t stopped working to try and make things better. I get calls every day, people asking me how they can deal with issues that their commissioners won’t help them with. I can’t tell you how many people have asked me to run for mayor, and how many are asking me to consider running for the Ward V seat. I’m listening. And I can tell you right now: No possibility is off the table.”

Staff Photo: Tara Fletcher