Town hall will be used to form Albany action plan

ALBANY — Ward I Albany City Commissioner Jon Howard is adept at conducting monthly town hall meetings that inform his constituents about issues that impact them. Saturday’s meeting may be one of the most important Howard has hosted.

The long-time city commissioner will jointly host a meeting with city of Albany Community and Economic Development Director Shelena Hawkins to give citizens an opportunity to have input on identifying needs that will help shape access to housing in the city. The data collected will become part of the city’s annual action plan.

“This is a vitally important meeting, and let me tell you why,” Howard said Thursday morning. “Since 1975, Albany has been certified as an ‘entitlement city.’ The criteria includes a population of more than 50,000 and a specified number of low- and moderate-income families. Albany meets that criteria.

“Because we do, we qualify for government grants that allow us to work toward eliminating slums and blight in the city.”

Among priority needs that are expected to be discussed at the meeting are neighborhood revitalization; maintaining affordable housing stock; increasing access to affordable housing; providing for needs of the homeless and at-risk populations; public services supporting the low-income and special-needs populations; acquiring, improving and developing public facilities, and program administration and planning.

“Shelena Hawkins will have her entire (Community and Economic Development) staff on hand to answer specific questions,” Howard said. “There will be individuals who specialize in emergency repairs, awarding of block grants and other areas of need.

“Input from the public is vital, as it helps determine what grants we get and how that funding is used.”

The Club at Thornton is located at 210 Thornton Drive. For additional information, contact Ginetta Mills at (229) 483-7650 or Howard at (229) 436-1102.

Citizens can also offer input by taking the online survey available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/R6MDNHD.