The mayoral election in Schenectady Tuesday offers voters a stark choice.
Three-term Democrat Mayor Gary McCarthy faces Republican Matt Nelligan and Working Families Party candidate Ed Varno.
McCarthy is a veteran of close elections: in 2011 he was elected to his first term, defeating former Union College President Roger Hull by a mere 89 votes. In a rematch four years later, McCarthy upped his lead to 730 over Hull. McCarthy prevailed after a close call in 2019's Democratic primary against Thearse McCalmon. He didn't face a Republican challenger in the general election, but that's not the case this year.
Nelligan says if he defeats McCarthy, he plans to accomplish several projects in his first 100 days: "I'm going to set my aggressive panhandling plan before the council. I'm gonna complete a forensic audit of all accounts. And I am then going to also petition the state for red light cameras and speed cameras in the city, something we've needed desperately for a long time. I'll make administrative changes to streamline government and make sure that we have you know the amount of police that we need. I'll get rid of bonuses for big for department heads. We currently have bonuses for department heads. I don't know why we have that. And I'll look for every savings I can for the taxpayer," said Nelligan.
State Senator Jim Tedisco of the 44th District says Nelligan is the only candidate who can bring change to the city. "He knows about education. He's concerned about education. He knows we have to build our commercial base, but at the same time, we have to create jobs while we do that and make sure our community is dealing with all the public, the sidewalks are taken care of, the streets are taken care of, not only in our downtown and business areas, that's great. That's fantastic. We like it. But with every part in every community, he's got a plan for that," Tedisco said.
McCarthy promises voters if they give him another four years, he will continue making Schenectady an attractive place people want to live, work and invest in. "There's still things that we're doing that we continue to build on, under the smart city label. But it's, we're doing things within the fire department within the healthcare community to improve the efficiency in the delivery of emergency medical services. And then also general health care, both police and fire very expensive services. So that we looked at how do we leverage those investments, with policing, we do data driven policing, and it's how do you take that information, better manage the resources, and then also get greater buy-in from the community," McCarthy said.
McCarthy’s tenure as mayor has seen the redevelopment of the city’s downtown and Mohawk Harbor, a former industrial area now home to the Rivers Casino and other amenities.
Working Families Party candidate Ed Varno, a retired Schenectady firefighter, vows he'll be a leader who will be accessible, responsive and enforce city laws. "I want abandoned properties addressed and maintained. So they aren't neighborhood eyesores. I want to invest in workable streets. I want a government that empowers all residents," Varno said.
Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
