Local & State Headlines

Decision 2007

• The campaign filters down to its final day for eight candidates seeking office in Albany municipal elections.

Carlton Fletcher

Albany voters will determine the future direction of their city government Tuesday when they cast votes for three of six city commission seats and the mayor's office in municipal elections.

The city is assured at least one new commissioner as newcomers Lou Easter Milledge Hardy and Roger Marietta vie for the Ward 4 seat that will be vacated by mayoral candidate Bo Dorough.

And no matter which candidate claims the Ward 6 seat – incumbent Tommie Postell or challenger David Williams – the commission will maintain a level of experience at the post. Postell is nearing the end of a four-year term after defeating 12-year commission veteran Williams for the seat in 2004.

Dorough, meanwhile, has accused incumbent Mayor Willie Adams – the first African American to occupy the seat – and city staff of "playing politics" with recent issues in an effort to "curry favor with voters." Adams called Dorough's claims a "desperate move" and expressed confidence in his re-election campaign.

If funding becomes an issue in the campaign, Adams certainly has a huge advantage over Dorough. According to campaign disclosure reports turned in by candidates Thursday, Adams has received $161,842 in contributions to Dorough's $23,657.

In the Ward 1 race, the commissioner with the longest tenure, 13-year veteran Jon Howard, got a boost in his quest to hold off first-time challenger Jimmy Jones when Wal-Mart officials confirmed Wednesday plays to locate one of the retailer's largest supercenters in East Albany.

Elections officials, meanwhile, said interest in the city races had picked up in the weeklong early voting period that ended Friday. By the time polls closed at the Candy Room of the Riverfront Resource Center on Pine AVenue, roughly 1,257 voters had cast ballots. That count includes 283 absentee ballots that had been returned by 5 p.m. Friday.

HARDY VS. MARIETTA

Throughout her first campaign for political office, law office manager Hardy has maintained her quest has been one steeped in "reality."

"I am a real person, not a politician," Hardy said Thursday. "I'm walking the streets in Ward 4 every day, a strong, black woman standing tall and straight. And what I'm telling the people in the ward – and what I say to every citizen in Albany – is that your concerns are my concerns. I'm in this for the people.

"There are needs in this city, and that's what I plan to address. Getting a Wal-Mart on the East side of town will be great, but we have other, more pressing needs. There is a tremendous need for quality, affordable housing. There is a need to look at the reasons for our high crime rate, for the gangs in the city, for the teen pregnancy rate."

Marietta, a professor at Darton College, has made economic development one of the primary issues of his campaign.

"e need to use SPLOST (special-purpose local-option sales tax) money to improve infrastructure in the community," he said at a candidates forum Tuesday. "We have to leave no stone unturned in finding ways to lower the cost of doing business. We need to create an environment in which businesses can succeed and expand.

"We also need to look at issues like health care and education in the city, form task forces to study each. We need to improve the appearance of the city; to paraphrase Burt Reynolds (in the movie 'The Longest Yard'), we need to become a clean, green crimefighting machine."

Ward 4, which has been represented by dorough for the past eight years, is one of the most unique districts in Albany. Its electorate makeup is almost evenly divided among black ad white voters: 3,479 to 3,448, respectively. As for campaign spending, Marietta – who points proudly to his grass-roots approach – shows contributions of $5,370 and expenditures of $3,521.56.

Hardy,meanwhile, did not return a disclosure form Nov. 1, according to the City Clerk's office, but her most recent report (from Oct. 4) showed $750 in contributions and no expenditures.

POSTELL VS. WILLIAMS

Postell said he is "feeling comfortable" about his campaign after receiving the endorsements of The Albany Herald and of 15 influential ministers in the African-American community.

"I think it shows that my message is getting across, he said after Tuesday's candidates forum. "I think citizens in Ward 6 and in the community in general see that I am involved with the issues that are most important to our city.

"Issues like domestic violence are issues that affect all of us, and we as community leaders, clergy and citizens in general need to get behind the effort to address these issues. They're the issues that hit all families, from the super rich to the poorest of the poor."

Williams, meanwhile, said efforts he pushed during his tenure in office had been discarded or had been diminished during his four years out of office.

"Redevelopment was needed in this ward, and we addressed that when I was on the commission," he said before Tuesday's forum. "The JuneBug Plaza (on Oakridge Drive) is an example of the things I spearheaded while in office. There were other plans for housing development in place, but over the last four years, that money has been used for something else.

"I've visited every single house in this district, and the issues that people are most concerned about are the lack of good representation on the commission, no new businesses coming into the South side, the lack of jobs,lack of growth, the crime rate. The citizens of Ward 6 don't feel their current commissioner is amenable to their needs."

Of the 5,682 registered voters in Ward 6, almost half of them are in the Mount Zion Church district. Mount Zion pastor Daniel Simmons is one of the ministers Postell says has endorsed him for the office. According to campaign disclosure reports, Williams has collected $6,336.39 in contributions to Postell's $2,775.

HOWARD VS. JONES

Howard said Thursday that while the announcement of Wal-Mart's plans to commit to building in East Albany was good news to the citizens of Ward 1, there still was plenty of work to be done before the retailer sets up shop.

"It's obviously going to generate an economic boom in the region," he said Thursday. "It's going to be a catalyst for businesses – those that exist and new businesses – but we have to start work now to make sure we're ready for Wal-Mart. There's infrastructure work to be done: curb and gutters, sewer lines, renovating or demolishing dilapidated structures that have become such an eyesore.

"But I think even more important will be establishing a 24-hour police precinct in the district. We have to assure our businesses and their customers that they will be safe when they shop."

Howard's opponent, contractor Jimmy Jones, says the changes coming in Ward 1 are indicative of the desire for change that is the prevailing attitude of residents in the district.

"People want to see change; they're tired of all the talk with no action they've been getting," he said after Tuesday's forum. "Mr. Howard is most visible during his town-hall meetings, but most of them say they think that's just for show.

"I'm encouraged from the feedback I've been getting in the community. There's this growing sense that change is needed, and I think people see me as someone who can bring change to the commission."

If Howard receives the majority of votes from the 4,197 registered voters in Ward 1, it would be his fifth term in office, easily the longest tenure on the current commission. Campaign disclosure records show Jones with $30,000 in contributions to Howard's $1,900. Jones' $2,540.28 in campaign expenditures is just over twice that of Howard ($1,250).

ADAMS VS. DOROUGH

In addition to his staggering war chest, Adams, an obstetrician/ gynecologist, has the perceived racial advantage of a city-wide electorate that has just shy of 8,000 more black voters than white (20,479 to 12,539). Be he insists he is looking for a consensus.

"I am proud to be Albany's first African-American mayor, but I represent all voters in the city," he said. "I think the problems that we face and the issues that are important to use are universal. My approach to those issues has to do with what is best for the city, not for any particular group.

"Over the last three-plus years, there have been a lot of positive changes in Albany. The commission is less contentious, and I can honestly say the decisions we make are not made along racial lines. We still have work to do, and that's why I decided to seek re-election. I want to b a part of finishing the job we started."

For his part, Dorough said he took on the challenge of unseating Adams because he doesn't believe the mayor has done enough for the city while in office. He also acknowledges that, despite the racial disparity, he has more to offer all the citizens of the city.

"Let's face it, Dr. Adams has been a do-nothing mayor," Dorough said. "I've been in an unfortunate position to see so many missed opportunities over the past four years. We have a glaring need to be more business-friendly, to put more well-trained police officers on the streets of our neighborhoods, to provide quality recreational activities for our young people to get involved in.

"I've been running for this office for the past eight weeks, but I've been preparing for it for the past eight years. I plan to be a hands-on, active mayor for the citizens of Albany. There have been a flurry of activities around city hall for the past few weeks, but what's been done for the past four years? I want to change that."

A total of 33,909 voters qualified to vote in the city elections, just over 60 percent of which are African American. Major contributors to Dorough's campaign, according to disclosure reports, were relatives Patricia Blackshear and Karen Dorough, while listed among Adams' top contributors are Mag Mutual Insurance Co. and Carl Gregory Chrysler.

Tuesday's election is the first in which Albany voters will be required to show photo IDs at their precinct.

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