Choosing Albany: Chief Cedric Scott

Choosing Albany

FIRE CHIEF CEDRIC SCOTT

IN CEDRIC SCOTT’S TIME IN ALBANY, HE HAS SEEN THE DEVASTATION OF HURRICANE MICHAEL AND THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC; he's had an up

close and personal .. as the chief of the Albany Fire Department and the director of the Dougherty County Emergency Management Agency.

“We’ve had some major issues and incidents that have happened since I’ve been here,” said Scott. “I’ve never experienced anything like what we have gone through (with the pandemic), and it challenged me, our department, and our community. It required every skill set that I think I’ve learned to be brought into play to help us deal with (it).”

Scott said one of the most important things he learned through that experience was how crucial relationship building is.

“We were hit very early by COVID-19, so when people were figuring it out we were going through it at the time,” said Scott. “We were one of the first communities that dealt with this hard hit pandemic that no one really knew what it was. I began to work with my team, and we worked together with Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital to work with public health, our partners at GEMA (the Georgia Emergency Management Agency) and Homeland Security. We were able to work with all those various entities including city and county government to really come together in a way that allowed us to secure necessary resources.”

An up close look at all this devastation and the stress of having to help coordinate the response to it might be something that sends other people running in the opposite direction. But not Scott.

Instead, Scott has been impressed by the resiliency of the community.

“We are very resilient,” he said. “We are a community that you can knock us down but we’re going to get back up. We’ve got people who say 'we’re just not going to give up,' and just to be part of that, it’s very humbling. It’s very humbling for people to believe in me in a way that says we’re going to trust you with these very critical

pieces of our community: Our fire protection, our emergency management, and our 911 center.”

Scott said this resiliency is not something he thinks people can see from the outside.

“I think you actually have to live here like I do,” said Scott.

“I live here in the city of Albany. I don’t think you can see it outside. You have to actually be on the ground here, I think to really understand the toughness of this community.”

But Scott hasn’t always called Albany home. He is originally from Macon where he started his career as a firefighter and later worked as a paramedic, riding in the back of an ambulance. Over the years, he received more associate degrees in areas such as fire service administration and paramedic technology." Scott went on to Mercer University for a Bachelor's in business administration and then to Wesleyan College for his MBA before taking a job in Suffolk, Va., where he worked for five years.

Scott still had a love for Georgia while he worked in Virginia.

“I have a great love for Georgia, having been that close to Albany all those years,” said Scott. “I always thought that if the opportunity ever came open to become chief in Albany, I would certainly try to apply. It was a very exciting time for me to be able to come here and be chief. Albany has always been, in my mind, a great place to be, and the stories I’ve heard about Albany and Dougherty County over the years from colleagues just kind of increased that excitement. It’s what brought me to be here, and I’m very glad that I’ve had the opportunity to be here.”

While the job brought Scott to Albany in 2018, there's been many contributing factors to why he's still here.

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“The position itself is one that allows me to use the skills that I’ve developed over the years, and it allows me to use them in a way that I really feel like my work here with this great team that I have, that we’re really able to make a real difference,” said Scott. “One of the driving things that’s kept me here is the team. It’s the team that I’m surrounded by both within the fire department and city and county leadership. Their support has just been unbelievable. It's very exciting to talk about and see and make plans for the future.

“From a personal standpoint, I enjoy the restaurants here in Albany. I like going downtown. I’m a big downtown fan. A lot of people that know me know that. I frequently have lunch in East Albany, I have lunch downtown, dinner downtown frequently, and I like shopping out in Northwest Albany. Things are so convenient there and then if my wife and I want to go somewhere, we just simply go out to the Albany airport and get on a plane and go anywhere. The convenience of being here, from a personal standpoint, and the people … (have) made it just a very pleasant place to live and work and be able to be very proud of being the fire chief of the city of Albany and serving all the citizens of Dougherty County.”

And while Scott has had a front seat to the disasters the community has faced over the past few years, he remains excited about the future.

“I believe that as we continue to rebound and come back from a lot of things like the pandemic, tornadoes, hurricanes and all that, I want to see us strengthen,” he said. “(I want us to) be stronger from an economic standpoint that allows people to get in the workforce and have good jobs right here in Albany, which I believe is very possible.

“I want to see (an) Albany and Dougherty County where people who may not have any hope right now, they may not have any hope today, but tomorrow their hopes and dreams are realized and they can realize them right here in the city of Albany," he said. "Whatever their dreams and aspirations are, I want to see Albany be the driver of bringing that to a reality for everybody in our community that wants to succeed. I don’t want to see them have to do that in another city or another state. I want Albany to flourish in a way so that everyone has a chance to have a bite at this and everyone can see a positive future and achieve their highest dreams and aspirations. That’s where I am when I look at the city of Albany and Dougherty County. I’m excited about this city and this county and the future of it.”