The mayor of Amsterdam is looking ahead after winning a second four-year term Tuesday.
Democratic Mayor Michael Cinquanti defeated Pastor Michael Arbige, winning about 60 percent of the vote. He says his successful campaign focused on his accomplishments to date.
“But we’ve also got a restructured city controller’s office so that never again will we be financially managed by a person who does not have the qualifications to do so," said Cinquanti. "So, I think that was a real big thing, and I think people appreciated that. And, you know, our blight—the same thing. We came in with a plan based upon success that other upstate cities—I should say rust belt cities from around the Northeast have used successfully. And that is to develop a committee approach and look at every kind of resource available for helping us demolish and rejuvenate old homes.”
When Cinquanti took office, the city of Amsterdam faced a deficit of more than $8 million, which has since been replaced with a $3.5 million surplus.
Arbige repeatedly questioned Cinquanti’s fiscal stewardship during the campaign. The Republican says his team was surprised by the outcome.
“I knew that we had a lot of support and honestly we were shocked at the result," explained Arbige. "I knew that we could lose, but we were absolutely shocked at the margin we lost by.”
Montgomery County Democratic Committee Chair Terry Bieniek says it was a resounding rejection of Arbige’s fiery campaign rhetoric.
“A lot of the things he said weren’t true. And it’s just, you know—we want a rational, smart-minded individual to be mayor." Beiniek continued, "We don’t want rhetoric, we don’t want lies, we don’t want fabrications, we just want somebody in there who will put his head down and do the job.”
Cinquanti said voters were turned off by Arbige’s rhetoric. Amsterdam residents have been on alert since a Rotterdam motel closed its doors to accommodate a group of migrants sent north from New York City. Arbige has repeatedly referred to undocumented immigrants as “illegal.”
Arbige suggested his staunch religious beliefs may have turned some voters away.
“I think if there was anything I think there were some people who were very uncomfortable with the fact that I’m a pastor and a very outspoken Christian," said Arbige. "And that probably hurt us a little bit with some, but it helped us with others.”
Arbige, who ran for a state Assembly seat last year, says he’s done with politics.
"It would take an act of God for me to run for something else again," said Arbige.
Cinquanti says voters rejected Arbige’s attempts to nationalize local politics.
"I think that some of the issues that my opponent brought into the campaign were not issues that a mayor or a city focus on when it comes to city government," explained Cinquanti. "So, yeah, I believe that hurt my opponent and I believe it helped me."
Cinquanti continued.
“The playbook against me was a playbook that’s run nationally with success by the Republican party. And they were calling me a leftist and a big spender, and that I wasn’t tough on crime, but the facts didn’t bear that out.”
Gun and crime control were hot topics on the campaign trail after the city experienced a pair of shootings this year within weeks of each other, one at a basketball tournament in a city park, the other at an outdoor movie for children.
Cinquanti has increased surveillance of public parks and police presence at events.
