DISTRICT 5: Gloria Gaines wants to return to County Commission

ALBANY — As Gloria Gaines ponders what she calls the region’s “broken economic development policies,” she remembers a conversation she had with former Atlanta mayor and Civil Rights icon Andy Young while on a trip to South Africa.

“He told me he went to businesses personally and asked them, ‘What does it take to get you to Atlanta?’” Gaines said. “That’s the kind of commitment we need, that’s the kind of leadership we need. I’m afraid we’ve taken our economic development priorities too lightly, we’ve ceded responsibility to others and simply walked away.

“I look at how dramatically Atlanta changed, and I look at the future — at the changes that are coming more rapidly than ever — and I wonder if Albany and Dougherty County will be left out of these global changes. Even at the state level, I wonder if there will be crumbs from Atlanta that will be left for us. I think it’s vital that our leaders start looking for ways that we can get our share.”

A fourth-generation Dougherty County citizen who was educated in Dougherty County’s public education system, Gaines worked in Atlanta for a large part of her adult life before moving back to her hometown, onto land that was granted to members of her family after slavery was abolished. She ran for the same Dougherty County Commission seat she’s seeking in the May 24 Democratic primary. She defeated contractor Harry James to claim the seat.

James now holds the seat. He moved into the position after a special election that was called when Gaines vacated the District 5 seat for an unsuccessful run at the commission chairmanship. One of the questions that’s been asked foremost as she’s campaigned for a return to the board is why? Why would she want to return to a position she left behind?

“The answer to that question is quite simple,” Gaines said. “I want to serve the people of this community. I have been blessed to live an extraordinary life, and I now have the time, the experience and the heart to serve. This community has given so much to me, and I want to give back.”

As she’s campaigned for another chance to serve on the County Commission, Gaines has peppered her platform with a mixed bag of looking both forward and back. She lists among her accomplishment as a commissioner her efforts to revamp the county’s Library system, the removal of dilapidated structures from District 5, her fight to maintain an equitable split of SPLOST and LOST funds with the city of Albany, the part she played in redistricting after the 2010 census, and her work to keep the county fiscally solvent during the recession that hit the community around 2008.

She also notes her work to fight construction of the Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline that, despite the efforts of many in the community, has been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and is is set to come through parts of District 5.

“I don’t know what else can be done at this point, but I’m going to keep speaking out against that pipeline until the bulldozers come,” she said.

As for priorities moving forward, Gaines said she wants the County Commission to take more of an active role in economic development in the community.

“As I said, we’ve ceded so much authority to the Economic Development Commission with very little oversight and very spotty results,” she noted. “Good-paying jobs feel so elusive now, and that’s why you have to work to get them through a state and national framework. We have to have a more business-friendly environment that encourages economic development.”

Gaines said she wants more of an effort put into developing Highway 91 as a business corridor, she supports a focus on improving infrastructure and she wants to work more closely with city of Albany officials to make needed improvements.

“In my lifetime, I’ve seen the Berlin Wall come down, seen the success of the Civil Rights movement, seen man walk on the moon and seen apartheid end in South Africa,” she said. “Those kinds of accomplishments give me so much faith in mankind. I believe if we continue to call on each other to be our best selves, we have every reason to maintain hope and optimism.

“I am driven in this life to do everything I can to try and better my community. If I see that there’s someone else who can do a job better, I applaud them and support them. Look, I don’t need attention for myself. At my age? To be seeking attention would be just sad. I am driven to be part of the solution for my community.”