March 26, 2004
Albany-- A city comissioner is under fire after requesting a meeting critics claim undermines the new Mayor.
Ward Two Commissioner Henry Mathis, knowing Mayor Willie Adams is out of town, called a special meeting. The purpose was likely to fire the City Manager.
Mathis called off the meeting just hours before it was to start, but an angry group of citizens still showed up.
10:30 was the appointed time for the special called meeting. Commissioners didn't show, but critics did. Mayor Willie Adams Campaign Treasurer, Catherine Shephard, says the Mayor had no idea about the meeting. "The meeting was called without his knowledge or his consent."
Commissioner Henry Mathis called the meeting, widely believed so he could get the votes to fire City Manager Janice Allen Jackson. Constituents in his Ward say Mathis has other things to worry about. "He really needs to get in here and be concerned about this matter and that matter we are dealing with down there I just consider it to be a shame to our community. I mean that is just the bottom line."
Reverend Raymond Polite says the streets around Arcadia Baptist Church flood during rainstorms, and he has asked his Commissioner, Henry Mathis, for help several times. "Now I remember him being here during the time when the election was. But with all the issues and flooding we are having in this area I haven't seen him," said business owner Yaz Johnson.
And Mathis couldn't be found today; not to address the media, or the angry crowd outside the government center. "But to have a meeting, especially without the mayor, I think that is stooping a little below level."
A new low, critics say, that is not the kind of politics they want in Albany.
We made several unsuccessful attempts to reach Commissioner Mathis for comment.
posted at 3:40PM by dave.miller@walb.com
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