Further delays by the city and county commissioners ‘are not acceptable,’ citizen panel says
First, a 19-person charter commission unanimously decided in 2004 that Dougherty County citizens should have the opportunity to choose their form of government.
But the Albany City Commission and Dougherty County County – whose members appointed most of the panel members – thus far have ignored that decision, as many of the elected representatives could lose their jobs in a merger.
On Wednesday, the notion of allowing citizens to decide whether to merge local governments got a shot in the arm with a grand jury’s strong conclusion that “the citizens of Dougherty County have the right and are qualified to determine the form of government that will represent them now and in the future.”
“Further delays by either the city or county governments are not acceptable, and we recommend that both bodies give their full and immediate support to the process,” the grand jury wrote in its presentment.
The grand jury did not take sides on the consolidation issue; rather, it “acknowledges that the voters should have the right to determine, on their own, their versions of self-rule.”
“We were looking across the county to come up with things that would improve conditions for the citizens,” grand juror Sandra Webb said in an interview Wednesday. “We weren’t saying whether we support consolidation or not, but that I should be put in the hands of the citizens.”
Added foreman Huddy Hudgens: “The governments denying the rights of citizens to make the choice is wrong.”
County Commission Jack Stone, though, said Wednesday that he is unmoved by the grand jury presentment.
“The people I represent were not involved in that grand jury. I assure you. They don’t want it to come to a vote because it won’t be a fair vote,” he said.
Stone, who represents District 6, says that if residents of unincorporated residents could decide the issue themselves – without their votes being combined with Albany residents – he would want the consolidation issue to be decided by citizens.
“The way they’ve done it, if you live in the city, you get two votes, and if you live in the county, you get one vote. That’s not a fair situation,” he said. “If they let county voters approve it or rejected, just like they let city voters do, I’d jump on it in a New York minute. I believe in letting people have their say.”
“The way they’ve done this thing, 99 percent of the county who votes on it could say no, and consolidation could pass. That’s not right.”
About 82 percent of Dougherty County residents live in Albany – the county’s only municipality.
Both the Albany City Commission and Dougherty County Commission have nixed years of study on the notion of creating a more efficient government by merging the City of Albany and Dougherty County. Five years after joining Dougherty County and state legislators in appointing a charter commission to study the issue, the Albany City Commission has not taken a vote on whether to allow voters to resolve the matter at the polls. The Dougherty County Commission, meanwhile, stalemated last year with a 3-3 vote, and has not revisited the issue since the recent election of District 3 commissioner Muarlean Edwards.
Stone was among the three commissioners who opted in last year’s vote not to let city and county voters decide whether to unify local governments. E-mails sent to commissioners John Hayes and Art Searles, who voted with Stone, were not returned Wednesday afternoon.
In its report, the grand jury recommended “that the ongoing process of determining whether or not Albany and Dougherty County should be a fully consolidated government should be delayed no further and both the city and county commissions should approve the efforts of the charter commission.”
The grand jury also recommended that additional public forums be held to educate voters on issues associated with merging the local governments.
