After a long hiatus, Gene Ferguson returns

as a member of the Albany City Council

The Albany City Council began the 2017 year with one new member, but one not totally new to the office.

Albany native Carl Ferguson was one of six people–and the only new member–to be elected to the council last November. However, Ferguson had served city government prior, although be it a quarter of a century ago.

Ferguson served one term on the council back in 1991 and 1992, when Lanny Bowlin was mayor, but did not seek a second term at the time.

The newest councilman, now 65, was born in 1951 at the old Maple Hill Hospital, the son of Will D. and Sue Lee Ferguson. He attended Clinton County High School and then went to work in Albany and has been employed here ever since.

Ferguson first worked for Steve Riddle at the former Riddle’s Marathon on Cross Street. He also delivered the daily statewide newspaper the Louisville Courier-Journal and then worked at the old Eagle Pass Cheese Company before that company closed down in the 1980s.

Ferguson, now a businessman, is most known as a long-time employee at Lay-Simpson Furniture Company, where he has worked for the past 28 years. He and his wife, the former Shelia Cummings, have two sons, Brooks and Jeremy Ferguson. Both sons are employed with the City of Albany, Brooks working on the street department and Jeremy part-time on the police department. Jeremy is also a school district School Resource Officer (SRO).

Ferguson noted he ran primarily for the seat because several people had asked him too. He also noted, somewhat jokingly but truthfully, that he told a friend that he thought he could be elected without spending any money–which he said he accomplished with his brother Gene, a co-manager of Lay-Simpson, paying his filing fee.

“People have been good to me,” Ferguson said of the residents of Albany and Clinton County, in noting he tried to be good to everybody.

The new councilman said there have been a lot of changes take place in the community since he served in the early 1990s, some of the biggest of which was the Albany-127 bypass, Keystone Foods locating its plant here, the new feed mill (Cobb-Ventress), Air Evac moving an emergency helicopter service to Albany and of course, the addition of several businesses in the area, especially restaurants and fast food chains, along with the hospital additions and others.

Ferguson said a goal on the council is to work to help bring more and better paying jobs to the area and most of all he would like to see everyone (city, county, etc.) get along and cooperate with each other in order to bring progress to the city and county.

He added he looked forward to working with the current mayor and council, as well as county government and the community. He further said he felt the current council had done an excellent job over the past years.

“I think we will all have a good working relationship,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson thanked all the people who supported him in last year’s election and said “I will do my best to make my supporters and everyone in the city proud.”

He concluded by telling all city residents that his door was open and anyone who had concerns or problems could call on him at any time.