A challenger has emerged against the sitting Albany County executive. Albany School Board Member Dan Egan appears ready to roll against Dan McCoy in a Democratic primary.
Dan McCoy was elected in 2011 as Albany county's fourth executive: the former city firefighter once chaired the legislature, which holds much of the power to run the county. With the September primary nine months away, McCoy embarked on a very early media blitz of television ads over the weekend, which observers see as an indication he's not taking his electability for granted.
Dan Egan is stepping up to the plate. Currently serving his second term on the Albany city school board, he's outspoken in his criticism of charter schools and believes he holds the key to a more unified, dignified county government. He casts as a standard-bearer former County Executive Mike Breslin, "...who is a person I truly admire. Yeah, he got tagged with the nursing home issue, but, he's a man of substance rather than the shallow political razzamatazz that we often see today. I have immense respect for that man. What I see now is 24/7 politics, and I think that people see that."
McCoy has tackled several cutting-edge issues from bullying to oil trains to styrofoam cups to toxic toys.
But 110th district Assemblyman Phil Steck recently criticized Albany County government, suggesting the 39-member legislature, the state’s largest, trim its ranks — and switch from elected county executive to appointed county manager. "I think a hard look ought to be taken at the forms of government that other counties use."
Albany County Legislator Chris Higgins sees no need for change. "I think that the county charter and the executive form of government that we have now is quite appropriate for a county of our size, and quite frankly I think that Albany County functions very well under that current system."
Egan says while Steck has aptly described many of the issues, the county executive shouldn't weigh in too much... "The executive should lend his office to getting things sorted out with people. Right now you have an absurd situation where people agree on how many districts of color there should be and yet they're still fighting each other in court, which tells you that there's something else going on. So there's no magic number but it needs to balance, it needs for representation with the ability of each legislator to get things done."
Egan claims he is not a politician, nor is he comfortable with "political labels." Some have suggested he is yet another emerging "progressive" Democrat along the cut of former school board member Assemblywoman Pat Fahy. Egan’s first fundraiser is set to take place at a city restaurant on January 27th. As in many Albany city and county races, the Democratic primary is likely to be the de facto general election due to the overwhelming party registration edge. "Well, I think this is gonna be a people-powered grassroots campaign and I think I've got the skills to do the job."
Egan claims the current county executive has failed to serve both citizens and businesses. The McCoy camp responded to a request for comment via email: "County Executive McCoy is focused right now on governing. There will be a time for him to make a decision about re-election, and he has an incredible progressive record working hard for all Albany County residents. Notably he fixed the county's deficit, and is creating a national model for how localities assist returning veterans."
