Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy has made it official: he will seek a fourth term.
McCarthy kicked off his campaign Tuesday morning at the Blue Ribbon Diner. He rattled off a list of accomplishments, saying he has lowered taxes, created jobs, expanded affordable housing, lowered crime rates, and more. The Democrat says Schenectady has received local and national recognition for its housing programs, code enforcement, data management, smart city projects, its climate smart community certification and Clean Energy Community designation. He conceded there are a few bumps in the road ahead:
“I'm proud of the work I've done for the people of the city of Schenectady," said McCarthy. "But the job is not done. We must continue to rebuild our neighborhoods and job creation. Look for ways to improve housing and health care affordability. The graduation rate from our high school is not what it should be. Public Safety, police and fire services are expensive. And we must look for ways to ensure that public confidence and respect for the services that are provided and the true value of those employees is appreciated. The opportunity is in front of us to continue to set the standards to bring recognition to our employees and on this community to make things better for our residents.”
McCarthy narrowly won a low-turnout 2019 Democratic primary against Thearse McCalmon.
"Low turnout was a problem last time," McCarthy said. "So we're intending to take the message to people and encourage people to vote in a manner that sends a clear message that they would like to continue the good things that are happening in this community."
McCalmon was endorsed by the Working Families Party, which is backing Democratic City Council President Marion Porterfield’s primary challenge to McCarthy. McCalmon and Porterfield are Black. McCarthy played down a reporter's question as to whether race would play any role in the campaign.
“It's part of the national narrative that's out there today," said McCarthy. "And what I've always said is, there's been a focus on policing now, and the relationship with the community of color in public safety. To flaunt the human character, where discrimination happens on the basis of age, sex, race… it's a flaw. It doesn't mean that we should accept that, but we have to acknowledge it and try and create a platform and an atmosphere where everybody feels that the opportunity is equal to them, in whatever they may choose to pursue in their life, in terms of job, housing, just the ability to enjoy their existence here.”
McCarthy says his record demonstrates he is best qualified to be mayor, adding he has enjoyed working with Porterfield.
"When we met in fact, in this restaurant a few weeks ago, she told me that I had done a great job as mayor, but she would be a stronger candidate. She couldn't articulate a reason for that,” said McCarthy.
During her mid-February campaign kickoff, Porterfield said she's already scoped out a new direction for the city.
"What I plan is that we will have a five-year plan that we will get together with the staff and residents of the city to talk about what we need to have, needs to happen, and how we do that," said Porterfield.
McCarthy has the city Democratic committee’s support, and anticipates being endorsed by the Conservative Party. The primary is June 27th. Also running for mayor is Republican Matt Nelligan.
