Albany minister, businessman Antonio Screen Sr. makes first bid for mayor of Albany

ALBANY — It’s no secret the city of Albany needs some new industry, but Albany mayoral candidate Anthony Screen Sr. says he thinks there are two categories that are not in short supply.

“We do not need another car wash; we do not need another Dollar General,” he said. “I’m ready to see growth here. I’m ready to see someone actually serve the community, actually serve the people in this community.

“It just seems over and over people get in office and forget the people who put them in office. I’m anxious to see us make better decisions about how we allocate funds here.”

Screen, a Florida native who is running in his second political contest, is one of four candidates seeking a four-year term and one of three challenging incumbent Mayor Bo Dorough. The other candidates in the Nov. 7 contest are former Albany City Commission member Henry Mathis and businessman Omar Salaam.

Prior to this year, Screen was a candidate for the Georgia House District 153 seat in 2016, losing to former Rep. Darrell Ealum that year. Screen, who is a pastor at the Alive Center, said his business knowledge will help him to advocate for new businesses, big and small, in the city.

“I opened my first business at 15,” he said. “I started with a borrowed lawn mower and a borrowed rake and by the time I was 18, I had two trucks.”

Currently Screen is the owner of Alive Investment and Alive Auto Investment.

“We need a leader that understands business,” he said. “I think we’ve seen for years the lack of sound, solid business decisions for the city, and it’s causing the city to go backwards. Unfortunately, increased poverty and crime (have) prevented us from being able to move forward or prosper, and people are continuing to leave.”

The candidate said his No. 1 focus as mayor would be leadership,

“Number one, we need transparency and collaboration,” he said. “We need leadership that understands we need to work together. We need leadership that’s going to be transparent about the dollars being spent, where it’s going.”

Another key issue is crime, and Screen said that this issue can’t be tackled without addressing economic issues. And young people need to see that there is a future here that does not involve committing crimes.

“In any city you go to, when you have high poverty, you have high crime,” he said. “We need good industries, high-paying jobs”

The city’s children also need activities that will keep them interested and engaged, the candidate said. That doesn’t necessarily mean building large new recreational facilities.

The city also should increase available activities by partnering with organizations and groups that are already providing services, he said. While as a kid himself, Screen said he was happy to play marbles with friends. But those types of games are not what kids today are looking for.

“(It’s) important we give our kids something to do,” he said. “We have tons of nonprofit agencies that are doing things for the youth. That’s where I’ll start. It starts with them. They need some recreational facilities that have gaming. Kids love games. We need gaming. They need opportunities to interact with each other and just have fun.

“If they get out of school and go to a recreational facility, by the time they leave there they’re ready to go home and go to sleep and not go and do things they shouldn’t be doing.”

Gangs are an issue, Screen said, but gang activity can be curtailed by showing young people that there is something else for them to be involved with. He said he believes gangs are attractive to children who are looking for a place to belong and, when they are older, good job prospects.

“Our economic situation here is horrible,” Screen said. “We’re still leading in the country for our poverty rate. I plan to work to bring in industries that are going to pay living wages and also support our local businesses that have supported us. We need big industry and (to) support our small industry as well.”

One way to quickly start addressing the lack of housing in the city for Screen is to rehabilitate existing vacant structures. The city also needs more home ownership as a way to improve residents’ economic fortunes.

“We can start rehabilitating and making them nice and adding value and also making a quality home for somebody,” he said.

The candidate also said he would like to bring “high-end” residential living to downtown Albany and thinks the downtown area needs more venues like restaurants that offer live music and family-type entertainment.

“A lot of people don’t vote because they have lost trust in our elected officials,” he said..” I’m asking everybody to give voting a chance one more time.”

Staff Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]
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