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Candidates get in final words at forum

• All eight hopefuls in next week's city elections participate in a candidates forum.

Carlton Fletcher

ALBANY — Albany voters got one last look at the candidates for three city commission seats and the mayor’s office during a candidates forum at the Government Center Tuesday night.

Around 125 voters listened as candidates answered questions from representatives of forum organizers Emerge Albany, Darton College and Albany State University. Other co-sponsors were the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce and The Links Inc.

No new ground was covered as the political hopefuls gave their views on such issues as economic development, crime, city-county consolidation and use of special-purpose local- option sales tax funds.

Mayoral candidate Bo Dorough took a shot at incumbent Mayor Willie Adams after Adams said he planned to talk with the CEOs of area businesses to discuss their needs.

“I’m sure I’m like a lot of other people when I wonder why it’s taken Dr. Adams four years to come to the conclusion that the mayor should meet with CEOs of local businesses,” Dorough said. “If I were mayor and I found out Procter & Gamble was considering an expansion project, I’d get on a plane and fly to Cincinnati to see how we could help. If Cooper tire officials had an issue, I’d fly to Finland.

“We’re in a global market now, and we’re dealing with global issues. We’ve lost Bobs Candies and Merck; we’ve got to be able to provide these businesses a well-trained, quality work force.”

Adams, who said in opening remarks that the city commission had become, under his leadership, one that made decisions “not along racial lines but along cooperative lines,” offered newly released crime statistics in the city as evidence that the current emphasis on law enforcement was having an impact.

“I’m not saying crime does not exist, but we have to be careful that the image we project is not the one perceived across the state,” he said. “Violent crime and robberies are down in the city according to the latest statistics, and we have a clearance rate of 40 percent. Our homicide clearance rate is 100 percent this year.”

Ward 1 incumbent Jon Howard said many visitors’ first impression of Albany was not a good one because of the continuing decline of the city’s East side.

“Economic development statistics show that 62 percent of the visitors to our city come into town through East Albany,” the 13-year commission veteran said. “We need some kind of hub to stimulate growth on the East side. If we get that spark, I believe other (businesses) will follow.”

Howard’s challenger, political newcomer Jimmy Jones, said his campaign was about change.

“Most of the talk I’ve heard from people in Ward 1 is that Mr. Howard’s town-hall meetings are for show only,” Jones said. “They’re tired of talk; they’re looking for action. I think there’s a strong movement to bring change into the ward.”

Ward 4 candidate Roger Marietta told the audience crime prevention had to become more of a priority among city leaders.

“At some point,” he said, “our commission has to say this is more important than other things. The police chief has told me he needs seven more officers to fully cover the city, and if we are serious about fighting crime, these kinds of things have to be our highest priority.”

Ward 6 incumbent Tommie Postell, a retired educator, said the education system is a key to solving most of the city’s pressing issues.

“Education will determine the success or failure of the city,” Postell said. “But the citizens have to realize that the schools can only do so much, that elected officials can only do so much. This has to be a unified effort in which parents become involved in teaching their children.”

Lou Easter Hardy, who is opposing Marietta for the Ward 4 seat being vacated by Dorough, said commissioners must be willing to look outside the boundaries of the city to find ways to combat problems that plague it.

“Revitalizing downtown Albany is great, but we have to remember the problems of all of the city,” she said. “I think this is true especially of the East side. We’ve got to be willing to go to other cities, find out what worked there and see if it’s something we can use.

“I know firsthand the concerns of Ward 4 — I’ve lived there 23 years — and I know those are the same concerns for all of Albany. Drugs, gangs, violence, teen pregnancy ... We have to come together as a city to fight these problems together.”

Postell’s opponent in Ward 6, David Williams, who held the post for 12 years before being ousted four years ago, said the blighted South side would have been better served if plans he helped put in place while on the commission had been followed.

“The floods (of 1994 and 1998) are among the reasons South Albany became a blighted area,” Williams said. “There’s been a need there for some time to build new, affordable housing. Those were on the plans we had developed when I left office. But money for those projects and money to improve the infrastructure was used on other projects. That’s why South Albany is in this condition today.”

Early voting in the municipal election races will continue from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. today- Friday. Voters citywide will go to the polls Tuesday.

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