Albany officials on Gauntt leaving: We won’t miss a beat

ALBANY — Albany city officials acknowledged Tuesday that outgoing Technology and Communications Director Jason Gauntt has been a valuable contributor to the city’s leadership team during his tenure with the city.

But City Manager Sharon Subadan, along with Ward III City Commissioner B.J. Fletcher, made a point of stressing that when it comes to plans to expand its utility footprint in Southwest Georgia, the city will not miss a beat.

“Be assured, we intend to continue to aggressively pursue (utility) opportunities in the region,” Subadan said. “We’ll miss Jason, congratulate him as he moves on to a new phase of his life, but we’ll continue to put the pieces in place that will benefit the city. As a matter of fact, that’s happening as we speak.”

Gauntt turned in his letter of resignation Monday after accepting a position as technology director for the city of Blakely. There, he will be actively involved with the South Georgia Regional Information Technology Authority as that group works to complete and market a $13 million project that will bring high-speed Internet service to seven rural counties in the region.

Matt Hammond, who works in the city of Albany’s Technology department, is leaving with Gauntt to take a position with the city of Blakely.

“This is a bittersweet time for me, for sure,” Gauntt said Wednesday. “I love Albany, and I want that to be known. But I have been around the SGRITA project for 10 years, thanks primarily to (former interim Albany City Manager) Tom Berry and the Albany City Commission. That’s a project I believe in strongly, and I want to be a part of completing it.

“I certainly want to see Albany continue to move forward. I will still live here, and I offer my continued support to the city in any way I can help. The people of the city of Albany deserve the kind of continued success that we’ve started under Mr. Berry and Mrs. Subadan.”

City of Albany officials recently rejected the original contract that called for the city to be the financial manager of the federally-funded SGRITA project, which will bring high-speed Internet services to Early, Miller, Seminole, Calhoun, Baker, Mitchell and Terrell counties. Albany’s counter proposal was, in turn, rejected by the SGRITA board of directors, comprising representatives of the seven member counties.

Shortly thereafter, the city of Blakely and the Early County Board of Commissioners entered into an intergovernmental agreement with the SGRITA board under which those entities will manage the initiative. Gauntt obviously will play a big role in the newly organized SGRITA collective, which received a half-million-dollar funding commitment from both the Blakely City Council and the Early County Commission.

“I’ve said all along after questions surfaced about Albany’s participation in SGRITA that we would move forward with or without them,” SGRITA Board Chairman/Mitchell County Administrator Clark Harrell said Tuesday. “It’s disappointing from the standpoint that Albany is the hub of Southwest Georgia, and their part in the partnership made sense. But we wouldn’t be where we are in this process without Albany, so we’re thankful for their contribution. It was just a marriage that didn’t work.

“But with Jason and Matt now on board, we feel that there are opportunities that we can more fully explore. I can say in all honesty that I feel better about SGRITA right now than I have in 10 years. Because of the buy-in by the city of Blakely and Early County, an even greater drive is there to see this project succeed.”

Berry, who is currently consulting with the city of Blakely on the SGRITA project as well as working with the cities of Ashburn and Sandersville, said that while he regrets that Albany will no longer be part of the project, he expects the project to move forward due to the focus of the groups involved.

“What’s so impressive is the partnership of the Blakely and Early County governments and the SGRITA board,” Berry said. “They are all so focused on a common goal. And that may be the best group of leaders I’ve ever seen in one place. What they have in place now was the results of a total team effort.”

Fletcher, meanwhile, said she understands Gauntt’s desire to see the SGRITA project through.

“This was his baby,” the Ward III commissioner said. “I respect that he wants to see it become all it can be. I’ve grown close with Jason, and I know he’s doing what he thinks is best for his family. But I’m also proud of the fact that when someone with Jason’s talent decides to move on, we’ve got talented people on staff in the city ready to step in and do the job without missing a beat.

“I sincerely believe that in three years’ time, there will be people coming to us wanting to know how we turned things around in Albany. We’re on the verge now.”

Subadan said that Jimmy Norman, who currently serves as director of Utilities Operations, would be actively involved in continuing work that has already begun on a number of regional utilities projects.

Gauntt’s final day with the city of Albany is Dec. 25.