Mayor Dorothy Hubbard to be sworn in for second term Monday

ALBANY — Mayor Dorothy Hubbard says city leaders must continue to work collaboratively as they head into 2016, the start of her second four-year term in office.

Hubbard and City Commissioners Jon Howard, Roger Marietta and Tommie Postell will be sworn in Monday evening during the commission’s annual organizational meeting at the downtown Government Center. Commissioners will also vote on appointees for a number of volunteer boards and commissions at that meeting.

“I feel that we’ve been able to accomplish much of what we have over the past four years because we have a commission that’s working together,” Hubbard said. “The key as we head into the new year is moving forward. We can no longer look back at things that happened 50 years ago and let that determine how we serve the citizens of this community. We must look to the future.”

Hubbard outpolled challengers Lane Rosen and Tracy Taylor in the city’s Nov. 4 municipal election to earn her second term as titular head of Albany’s government.

“I knew what was ahead, knew that we had some hard work to do, especially with the Utility Board,” she said. “I don’t mind telling you, I seldom lose sleep, but some of these things kept me up at night. But the one thing about serving in our government that’s personal for me is that I want to make our community one where my grandchildren and great-grandchildren can have a successful future.”

The city’s first female mayor credited former interim utilies general manager and, eventually, city manager, Tom Berry with helping her cope with many of the difficulties she faced as the city’s top executive.

“I was against — I actually voted against — merging the (then) Water, Gas & Light Commission into the city government,” Hubbard said. “But God often does things for you that makes it easier for you to cope. God put the right person in place to work with us during that time (of merging the two entities), and even though it often weighed heavy on me, I was comforted that Tom and I were on the same page.

“I think we made the right choice in bringing Ms. (Sharon) Subadan in as our new city manager, but I think Tom set the tone for her to be successful by ‘clearing out a lot of the garbage’ that was weighing us down. The great thing about Tom was his understanding of organizational structure.”

Hubbard points to accomplishments in East Albany — the construction of a pool/water park that will be part of a recreation complex, a complete overhaul of the East Broad Avenue underpass and completion of a new senior housing complex — as proof that city leaders are concerned about the city as a whole, not just certain wards.

“One of the points that I drive home when I talk one-on-one with commissioners is that, while I understand that their primary concern is for the constituents in their wards — and, trust me, I served on the commission (as the city’s Ward II representative), so I understand — we still must consider whether an issue is going to make the whole city better,” she said. “We have to take a more holistic approach, forget about personal agendas.”

The mayor said completion of the East Broad Underpass is a prime example of working collaboratively through relationships established on the city’s behalf.

“I’m so proud of that underpass because it took a good four years of talking with (Georgia-Florida) railroad officials to work out a way that we could make the improvements,” Hubbard said. “There hadn’t been anything done there in 50 years, and many of the people who served before me said the railroad folks just wouldn’t discuss it. But, little by little, we brought more of their personnel to the table with our personnel, and we were able to make it happen.”

As she heads into her second term in the mayor’s office, Hubbard said a number of issues stand out.

“I feel good about where we are and where we’re going,” she said. “I’m proud of the more than 150 groups and individuals who signed up for the Mayor’s Call to Service initiative, but there’s plenty more to be done. Their work in beautifying neighborhoods in the city is interwoven with our redevelopment plans downtown.

“The brewery and the Albany Heights development are huge for us, the kind of things that spur further development, and we’re hearing from people who are anxious now to locate downtown. But I think we’re one of the few cities in America that doesn’t do enough with this amazing (Flint) river that runs through our community.”

Hubbard said the city/county Trail Master Plan currently being developed will also tie in to downtown redevelopment and in luring visitors to Albany.

“This is the kind of development that could make us even more of a destination city,” she said.

The mayor notes that, traditionally, local government officials have little impact on educational opportunities in their cities and counties. But she said the historic educational initiative sparked by the presidents of Albany’s three institutions of higher education and the superintendent of the county’s public school system will allow interested parties in government and industry to impact education, from K-12 to the college level.

“Sometimes you have to have the right people in place,” she said. “I think this initiative by Dr. (Anthony) Parker at Albany Technical College, Dr. (Art) Dunning at Albany State, Dr. (Paul) Jones at Darton and Dr. (Butch) Mosely with the Dougherty County School System will stimulate a collaborative effort by all the community’s stakeholders.

“When I first started thinking about running for office, people asked me about impacting education, and I told them there was nothing I could do, that all of the decisions impacting our schools, even through our colleges, were being made in Atlanta. Now, I feel that as part of this collaborative I can have a positive impact. Because our young people need to be educated. There is always hope when a person has an education.”

Hubbard said the looming special-purpose local-option sales tax referendum, which would bring millions into the community, will be vital to future development.

“I’ve said before and I’ll say again: Infrastructure has to be our focus with SPLOST,” she said. “I said during the election that I worry, with the age of some of the pipelines in our sewer system, that some of them might break at some time and leave us with a huge mess. We have to address them now before we worry about some of the other projects people are talking about.

“If I had my way, 99 percent of all SPLOST collections would be used to fix our infrastructure.”

Monday’s special called commission meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. in Room 100 of the Government Center.