Dawson mayor keeps winning elections, despite legal problems

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Posted 3:49PM on Thursday, November 28, 2002

DAWSON, GA - Charlie McCray, a grizzled construction worker, stood on a downtown street corner, puffing on a cigar and watching while city workers hoisted a wreath to the top of a utility pole to give the town a festive holiday flavor. McCray said it's no mystery to him why Dawson Mayor Robert Albritten was re-elected by an overwhelming majority in the Nov. 5 general election, only weeks after Albritten, an insurance agent and funeral director, was charged with driving under the influence and indicted on multiple counts of insurance fraud. ``He's popular,'' said McCray, 62, who voted for Albritten. ``He's buries just about everyone who dies around here. He doesn't bother anybody. All he does is write insurance (policies) and bury people.'' Albritten, 60, has not commented publicly on his legal problems and did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment on his victory and legal problems. Black voters see the 60-year-old Albritten, the first black mayor of a town that is nearly 78 percent black, as a benevolent godfather. He has been mayor of the southwest Georgia town of 5,500 residents since January 1991. He won his re-election bid with 733 votes, defeating two white challengers. Paul Rankel, a civil engineer, garnered 453 votes, and Ken Claybaugh, a Naval retiree, got only 33. Rankel and Claybaugh both settled in Dawson after serving in the Navy. ``Counting myself, my wife and my mother, I feel there are 30 other honest people in Dawson,'' said Claybaugh with a laugh. Dawson, located about 20 miles from Albany in Terrell County, is handicapped by a lack of jobs, low educational attainment, generations of poverty, substandard housing and poor access to health care. ``I was disappointed,'' said Rankel, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate. ``I tried to run a positive campaign and present what my vision was and unfortunately what I was saying didn't energize the voters enough. My vision was to bring good-quality jobs to Dawson and Terrell County, to improve the school system and to give our young people some hope.'' At the J&M Fade Shop on one of Dawson's main streets, barber Dexter Greer had just finished a trim for customer Willie Latimore, 29. During the campaign, the shop printed fliers urging voters to support Albritten. ``Accused doesn't mean guilty,'' said Greer, who voted for the mayor. ``You vote for him on his performance in the job. He's done a very good job.'' Latimore, who lives next door to Albritten's funeral home, said he has known the mayor all his life, voted for him and wasn't bothered by the DUI. ``He's done so many great things'' as mayor, said Latimore, who commutes to Albany to work in a tire factory. ``I feel if you're at home and want to take a drink, that's your business. I'm not even convinced he was drunk.'' In August, a grand jury in Albany indicted Albritten on 19 counts of insurance fraud and nine counts of forgery, and about a month later Dawson police charged him with driving under the influence after his van was involved in an accident that sent a woman to the hospital. The grand jury said he purchased fraudulent life insurance policies on at least 10 elderly and mentally infirm residents of an Albany assisted living home. It is illegal in Georgia to take out a life insurance policy on someone without their knowledge. Albritten allegedly forged documents showing that the people consented to the policies, which ranged from $2,000 to $5,000, and he also collected commissions on the policies. State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine said Albritten also received residents' names from employees of the home and paid some of them when they sent deceased residents to him for burial. After being charged with insurance fraud and forgery, Albritten was released on $5,000 bail. But a few weeks later, he was charged with DUI and following too closely following the accident in Dawson. Albritten was taken to jail, where he recorded a blood alcohol level of .167, twice the legal limit for drivers, said Dawson Police Chief Lee Webb. He is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 2 on the accident charges and is expected to go to trial on the fraud charges early next year. The Rev. Ezekiel Holley, president of the Dawson branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said Albritten's stunning victory shows that voters were satisfied with his performance and were willing to overlook his personal problems. ``I don't think one's personal life has anything to do with his performance'' in office, said Holley, adding that he considers Bill Clinton one of the nation's most popular presidents, despite his sexual blunders. ``Every man is innocent until proven guilty, so he is entitled to his day in court.'' Michael Binford, an associate professor of political science at Georgia State University, said minority candidates and voters have a tendency to ``stand together.'' ``Apparently his supporters didn't think those charges were either justified, or a big deal,'' Binford said.