Last week, the Albany-Dougherty Inner City Authority board of directors agreed the Dollar Square store must leave from downtown Albany, yet they refuse to leave the board themselves as negligent board members. They have completely lost the trust of the public, and continue to eliminate any chance for improvements. No future actions by the current board will be trusted or should be trusted. If they truly care for downtown, they must realize these facts and get out of the way of progress.
The current ADICA board has knowingly operated without bylaws, without forming necessary committees, and certainly without exercising proper oversight over issues their responsibilities called for.
The City Commission also has guilt here. They did not exercise control of the ADICA board and have not directly called on their appointed board member to resign. The public has clearly spoken; the complete ADICA board must resign immediately…
The city manager also shares the guilt for not staying informed of downtown manager Don Buie’s activities. A simple get-acquainted conversation with Dollar Square owner Tim Washington, or restaurant owner Lajuana Woods, would have uncovered the details of their grants, rents, and promises made. Now we hear of more promises made to Alltel and the Dowtown Bistro.
How could a supervising city manager not follow up, thanking these businesses for opening downtown, and in the process, become educated about at least the broad structure of their business plan? Stay informed about this, it is far from over.
Written by Jim Wilcox, general manager of WALB.
