Carmella Mantello was sworn in as the first female mayor of Troy on Monday.
Mantello, the long-time city council president, took the oath of office on the roof of Franklin Plaza, which overlooks the Hudson River and downtown — which Mantello says is a key to the city’s future.
She’s the first Republican mayor in over a decade and says her first priority is improving morale among city employees. She blames it for leading to more than two dozen vacancies.
Mantello campaigned on being a hands-on mayor who will work with municipal employees to get work done.
“We're going to show that we're one team, we're going to clean the streets,” Mantello said. “We're going to make our streets safer, but we can't do that ourselves and it's not a top down so it's going to be our neighborhood association. It's gonna be our employees. And we're going to show the people of Troy what Troy is all about.”
Mantello promises to replace all lead-contaminated water service lines in her first term. The contamination has plagued residents for years – leading to questions about why the previous administration sat on $500,000 in funding to replace the lines.
Former two-term Democratic Mayor Patrick Madden said it was only a fraction of the necessary funding.
Mantello says her administration is focused on creating a “safer, cleaner, greener Troy.”
“I'm going to be very aggressive going after state and federal monies. I'm either hiring a part time grants coordinator or as a consultant to aggressively seek the federal funds. We have trillions of dollars out there and the state is going to receive over a billion dollars, we need those monies to float to Troy. The sooner we get them, we'll continue the progress that we've already started. But obviously, we need another $20 million to get it done during the first term.”
Mantello fell short in two prior runs for mayor in 1999 and 2011. She says previous administrations have failed to fully utilize the city’s waterfront. The nearly 8-mile stretch has seen several improvements over the years and was recently selected to receive $100,000 in state funding for further planning and development. The Republican plans to bulk up funding for waterfront projects, which she says will improve economic development and further connect the city to its downtown.
“This isn't just a project, it's a pact. It's a passion also. A pact with the past to honor its legacy, a pact with the future to revive a city and allow the ripples of Troy’s rebirth to tell our story to the world. On our waterfront and throughout the city. We will accelerate work to open new, improved projects parks, including the Knickerbacker pool, enhance open space and revitalize our neighborhoods.”
Mantello says revitalizing neighborhoods and engaging youth could help decrease crime and violence.
“We can't afford to ignore this creeping decay any longer. The slow decline rot of willful ignorance is damaging our neighborhoods and corroding the character of our communities. It discourages investment, and in too many heartbreaking instances, it's shattering lives.”
Incoming Deputy Mayor Seamus Donnelly, who was appointed by Mantello, has worked at Northeastern Insurance for eight years as a lead broker. Donnelly says he looks forward to assisting the mayor with her top priorities.
“In code enforcement, as you've seen, we had a building collapse not too long ago. We got to do an inventory on our trouble properties and really crack down on absentee landlords, but really see what is going on with our housing stock right now. What's the next building that might be a potential problem?”
Replacing Mantello in the city-wide council president post is Sue Steele, a Democrat who will be working with a Republican majority.
“I do hope we can come together on issues of importance,” Steele said. “It’s policy not politics.”
A planned council appointment of disgraced former Rensselaer County Elections Commissioner Jason Schofield to a city clerk’s office job was aborted after intense backlash. Schofield is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to a dozen counts of election fraud. Mantello says it’s for the best.
In recent weeks, Mantello has appointed several members of her administration including Dana Salazar as corporation counsel, the first woman to hold the post. Mantello also appointed Joseph Mazzariello as Commissioner of General Services and Russ Reeves as Engineer and Public Utilities Commissioner.
