Officials in the city of Albany and Rensselaer County were sworn in for new terms on Monday.
At Albany City Hall, Mayor Kathy Sheehan hosted a swearing in for 6th Ward Common Council Member Richard Conti and City Court Judge Marisa Franchini.
“You see when you're in court, that people come every day simply to be heard, whether it's to see justice on a small claims matter or to be heard on a traffic matter, they come to be heard," Franchini said. "And rest assured, when I'm on the bench, people will be heard.”
In November, Sheehan introduced former Common Councilor Conti as her pick to serve on the panel for one year as an interim member after 6th ward councilor Gabriella Romero won a seat in the New York State Assembly. Romero will represent the 109th district seat long represented by Democrat Pat Fahy, who won the race to succeed fellow Democrat Neil Breslin, who is retiring from the 46th Senate district.
Romero says Conti's presence on the council will somewhat mitigate the intensity and chaos of an election year, when every seat will be up for grabs.
"There's no one that could do it better than Richard for a year, and he's going to bring a lot of really wonderful generational knowledge and stability for that year, especially during a very serious transitional time for the council and for the city," said Romero.
Conti represented the ward from 1997 to 2021, when he decided not to run for another term. He will serve until the next election.
“The issues I care about are the same," Conti said. "Building, strong neighborhoods, quality of life, public safety, the revitalization of Lark Street and the availability of affordable housing and the future health of our city. I know there are challenges ahead, and there's a lot that we have to do. And in that vein, you know, one year is not a long time, but as we move into 2025 as I think we're all aware, it's going to be an important municipal election year where city wide council seats will be on the ballot. So I think it's really important that during that time, that we really have a robust discussion about the future of our city and where we want to go.”
Conti says he has no intention of running for re-election after finishing out the term.
Monday evening across the river, Republican state Senator Jake Ashby of the 43rd district joined other elected officials at a Rensselaer County Courthouse swearing in. Among those taking the oath was 107th District state Assemblymember Scott Bendett, beginning a second term.
