County Legislator Carolyn McLaughlin, shown at a recent television debate, says she believes “without a shadow of doubt” that she’s the most qualified candidate in the Albany mayor’s race.

ALBANY — When Carolyn McLaughlin looks at South Pearl Street in the South End, she thinks about what was and could be.

“There’s a richness here that I want to revive and preserve,” she told me. “You can’t let this community die. If you’re going to invest $200 million into the city, some of it has to flow to this neighborhood.”

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McLaughlin and I stood and talked near the Capital City Rescue Mission for about 90 minutes on Tuesday, a location of her choosing. It’s the neighborhood that formed her and inspires her as she runs to replace Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan.

A short walk from where we stood, her parents operated McLaughlin’s Grocery, a former mainstay at Philip Street and Myrtle Avenue. McLaughlin worked in the store as a child, watching as her father gave food to mothers who couldn’t afford to buy.

“Whatever she needed, he would say, 'Give it to her,'” McLaughlin told me, recalling how those mothers would almost always return to repay their debts. “People didn’t stiff my father,” McLaughlin said.

The South End was full of thriving businesses in the 1960s and 1970s, and there are still........

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