Warbington: Albany cannot continue under status quo

ALBANY — Chad Warbington ticks off the differences between himself and incumbent Ward IV Albany Commissioner Roger Marietta.

“Our race has the biggest difference in the two candidates: everything from age to what we do for a living to business to real estate,” Warbington, who is challenging Marietta for the Ward IV seat on the Albany City Commission, said. “So it comes down to choice: Do the people want the status quo, or are they ready for change?

“It’s clear that where we are in our community is directly related to our leadership. From talking with the people in the community, I think it’s clear that they’re ready for change.”

Warbington lost a close race to Marietta in his quest to unseat the veteran commissioner four years ago, and the businessman said he enters this year’s municipal election as a better-known commodity.

“I think it was Thomas Edison who said, ‘The best way to succeed is to try one more time,’” Warbington, owner of Shutters Plus, said. “We were so close last time, which was really amazing for a new candidate taking on a long-time incumbent. But I didn’t go away; I stayed involved. Now, I’m picking right back up where I left off last time, but I no longer have to introduce myself. People know me now, and they’re willing to listen to my ideas.”

Warbington’s ideas for the city center around planning. He says outmoded concepts and policies must be updated.

“Right here in Ward IV, we’re seeing the results of an outdated zoning ordinance policy,” the challenger said. “A dense, three-story apartment complex is going up on the edge of our neighborhood, and it’s going to impact our safety and our property values. Because of the city’s outmoded zoning ordinances, the builder came in here and started building because our ordinances allow him to do that. How anyone thinks that is good for that area, I don’t know.

“What’s happening is that the commission’s inattentiveness to our zoning ordinances is being exploited to the Nth degree. Something that was zoned a certain way 10 years ago doesn’t necessarily apply today. Every city has to have a plan for housing, but our city doesn’t have a plan. And we end up with developers telling us what they’re going to do.”

Blight is another issue that Warbington said impacts him, Ward IV and other city residents personally.

“I believe, in this economy, everyone who owns property knows their values are declining,” he said. “My property value is less now than in was four years ago, three years ago, even two years ago. The way you bring people back into a community is to invest in that community so that the citizens will invest.

“Take this property that I own. You don’t have to go 100 yards to find abandoned, boarded-up blight. We need to address blight more aggressively; we need Code Enforcement to be more visible. You don’t have to drive very far in any direction to find code violations. The city holds a lot of property in its land bank, but you can’t sell property that is surrounded by blight.”

Warbington said his primary concern as he campaigns for a seat on the commission is law enforcement and crime. He said the current commission is not doing enough to allay citizens’ fears.

“Every city owes it to their citizens to have a fully-funded, fully-staffed police force,” the businessman said. “We should be asking ourselves and finding the answer to the question why can’t we hire and retain a full force. I don’t blame the police officers. They’re looking out for their careers and their families. But what the city is giving them is not acceptable.

“We also owe it to our police department to keep up with technological advancements in crime fighting and get them the latest equipment. I was in Baltimore, and I learned they have gunshot detectors that can tell within 100 yards where a gun was shot. And we don’t even have a K9 unit. How can a city of this size not have a K9 unit to help stop the flow of drugs in our community?”

Warbington has gone before both the City Commission and the Dougherty County Commission proposing that a SPLOST oversight committee be formed to assure taxpayer-voted special taxes are spent properly. So far, he’s gotten no response from either body.

“Over the last decade, I believe the SPLOST spending has been — what’s the word I can use — mismanaged,” he said. “T-SPLOST (a special 1 percent transportation-only tax) barely passed last year, and that should have been a wake-up call. People in this community do not feel they’re getting the things they voted for.

“SPLOST funds should be used for road improvements, alleys, sidewalks, sewer, infrastructure. I truly believe that if we get to SPLOST VIII, the city and county government must re-instill confidence in the measure for it to pass. And you do that by spending the money on the things people want and voted for. The city is putting in a sidewalk on Palmyra, and I asked them who decided that was where there was the greatest need. They said it was voted on back in the 1980s or 1990s. And they couldn’t tell me where the next sidewalk would go. There’s just no plan in place.”

Warbington chides Marietta for what he calls the incumbent’s “five-in-a-row speed bumps” policy and his support for measures that he says will not benefit the city.

“Again, it’s about the policy in place,” Warbington said. “But you look and see neighborhood streets with five speed bumps, and then there are none near schools, where they need to be. The City Commission makes policy. They should look at the way this is being done and find a more equitable means of using this tool.

“It’s also a mystery to me, giving you a very specific example, that Roger would bring the motion to OK a liquor store on Martin Luther King, which is not even in his ward.”

Warbington insists that his recent description of Marietta as a “career politician” is apt.

“There’s nothing wrong with being a career anything unless you’re getting negative results,” he said. “Nick Saban is a career football coach, and that’s a positive because he’s had success. When I say Roger is a career politician, it carries a negative connotation only because he has gotten negative results. And I think it would be a travesty to go into this election and keep the status quo.

“This is not about picking up trash or getting dead animals off people’s property. It’s not about good guy vs. bad guy. It’s about what candidate will best serve this community. And, for me, it’s about change.”

Staff Photo