Capital Region News

Troy Mayor Calls On Councilor To Resign

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Dave Lucas

Published January 25, 2019 at 4:15 PM EST

Troy Mayor Patrick Madden in his City Hall office, January 18, 2016. — Troy Mayor Patrick Madden

Troy Mayor Patrick Madden is calling for the resignation of a city council member. The councilor reportedly used the N-word.

Madden, a Democrat, issued a statement Friday condemning "the use of hateful and racist language" allegedly uttered by 2nd District Collar City Republican councilman Mark McGrath in a three-year-old voicemail leaked to the Times Union.

"For the mayor to come out now and make this political, I'm feelin' bad enough. If I resign it'll be on my terms, not the mayor's terms."

The newspaper says it also has obtained screenshots of a caller ID linking the voicemail to a phone number belonging to McGrath, who doesn't recall leaving any such message.

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Dave Lucas

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.

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