For the past few months, local residents in the city of Albany who have concerns, problems or just ideas they would like to pass along have had some extra time to discuss those matters with Albany Mayor Nicky Smith.

This past spring, Mayor Smith came up with the idea to set aside a specific time each month to allow residents some extra time to meet with him and discuss any issues they might have, or simply just to talk.

“The idea was to give people an extra chance to discuss their concerns,” said Smith during an interview Monday afternoon. “You see people around town and talk, but usually when they have something important on their mind, it’s better to sit down and discuss an issue one-on-one,” he said. That is the primary reason for the Meet the Mayor concept, something Smith noted during the interview he should have termed “talk” with the mayor.

Although Albany City Hall is closed on Saturdays, but have extended normal week day hours a few years ago, Smith has always had an open door policy to visitors. He noted some people may not be able to come by during weekday hours so he set aside one day a month to give those residents a chance for the extra opportunity to voice their concerns or ideas.

The mayor noted that although there were some weeks where no one from the public showed up, at one Meet the Mayor day, up to five individuals came to his office at City Hall for coffee, donuts and to talk about various issues.

Smith said most of the concerns are problems that residents have that may pertain to a particular department, such as street or water issues, but other have met with him to voice their ideas about projects, one of which he noted was in favor of constructing a new fire station–a project that the city is now involved in and in the process of getting funded.

The mayor also told of one man who had visited on Meet the Mayor day who told him that one time he had “jumped on him (mayor)” about something but said, “you’re alright” referring to the chance to meet with and discuss his concerns.

“The main thing is, I’m making myself more available to the citizens,” Smith said.

The ideas and concerns of residents also range from the need for more traffic lights (which is a state highway department decision), getting more businesses and industries to locate here and the mayor said one person had stopped by to apply for a business license.

During the Meet the Mayor Saturdays, the mayor meets one-on-one with persons who come into his office on a first-come, first-serve basis but doesn’t turn anyone away if they wish to wait for him to finish with each individual there before them.

“As long as they keep coming in, I’ll keep conducting the meetings,” Smith said, adding that some residents prefer the one-on-one sessions because they may have personal issues they wish to discuss.

With his schedule, the mayor has had to postpone one Saturday session, and ironically, will be out-of-town and will have to cancel the session scheduled in October.

The Meet the Mayor days are the second Saturday of each month and with the cancellation of the October day, the next date will be on November 10. The hours are 8 to 10 a.m.

Mayor Smith concluded by inviting any resident to come by with their concerns, problems, ideas, or “just to talk” and have donuts and coffee on the Meet the Mayor days.