With three weeks until the June 24 vote, Albany’s Democratic mayoral primary remains close. Candidates were asked to define their party affiliation Tuesday.
At a time when the national Democratic Party is struggling to find its footing following the election of President Donald Trump, Albany’s Democratic mayoral hopefuls were asked during a forum Tuesday what being a Democrat means.
One of two forums Tuesday for the candidates who are now in crunch time, this one was sponsored by the NAACP and held at Capital Repertory Theater. It followed an afternoon forum at the Renaissance Albany Hotel hosted by Rehabilitation Support Services.
Tuesday’s forums included topics like how to spend a $400 million in new state investments in the city, public safety, addressing quality of life issues including mental health, lowering taxes, helping senior citizens, assisting people in finding housing and achieving home ownership in the city. But party affiliation continues to be a point of contention before the pivotal primary in a city where Democrats have held the mayor’s office for a century.
After asking the question, the moderator first called on Dan Cerutti, asking the "tech exec" to address reports that he once was a Republican. Cerutti responded that he has always been a Democrat, save for an eight-year period during the 1980s when he lived in Texas.
"When we bought a first house, I registered as Republican," Cerutti said. "It had to do with the fact that I went to a liberal arts school, and they made fun of me because I was a sort of conservative, conservative kind of guy. So I called myself a Reagan Democrat. Unfortunately, I wasn’t involved in politics, and I don't even know if I voted during that period."
Cerutti says when he left the Lone Star state he moved to New England, where he did not affiliate with any political party. Upon his return to Albany nine years ago, he registered as a Democrat.
Chief City Auditor Dorcey Applyrs, County Legislator Carolyn McLaughlin, Cerutti, and Common Council President Corey Ellis are running to succeed third-term Mayor Kathy Sheehan.
In recent weeks, candidates have tried to paint Cerutti as more conservative. The tactic has come as more and more Cerutti lawn signs have popped up across town. And it follows controversy over a mailer sent to city residents by a PAC in May depicting the three African American candidates as favoring defunding the police. Applyrs first mentioned the mailer during a televised debate last month. Cerutti offered an apology "to those who were offended."
"There's an independent political action committee called Common Sense Albany. I have nothing to do with it. I think you all know legally, I can have nothing to do with it. It's a set of people from Albany who care and are interested in change. They have said a number of things about me that I disagree on, but I can't control it," said Cerutti.
McLaughlin, Applyrs and Ellis say they were stunned by the accusation.
"This common sense for Albany? That makes no common sense. To say that someone such as myself and other candidates would defund the police in the city of Albany, we're already down 83 officers. That's defunding right there in and of itself. It was very offensive," said McLaughlin
"To suggest that I want to defund the police, again, these are scare tactics, Republican rhetoric that was used at the national level. Them, and they are replicating, including Dan Cerutti, replicating Republican tactics and strategies here in the city of Albany to pull the wool over residents’ eyes,” Applyrs said.
“People aren't fooled by this rhetoric. People know what's going on. They know where we stand," Ellis said. "They know how we've been in city government, how we've been with our police department, doing our community events with our police department. And never once would I have said, ‘defund the police.’”
While party affiliation has been a common line of attack, the candidates have not varied much from their original platforms they disclosed when they began running.
At the RSS forum, candidates were asked, if elected, "what would you do with all of those empty houses on the College of St. Rose campus" in the heart of the city?
McLaughlin answered first. "First of all, it's going to keep its name, 'St. Rose,' that's been decided. But 'you get an office, you get an office, you get an office.' That's the way I look at that place. There are so many opportunities for if you have a coordinated effort, a service that can be provided to move the city of Albany forward."
Ellis hopes the campus would generate tax revenue. "The city doesn't own any of those properties, either. So what I would say is, living in that neighborhood, we'd help. We would hope, whatever is developed there, is that it's going to benefit the taxpayers, and it's going to benefit the residents who live in that area and those businesses," said Ellis.
Cerutti prefers the houses be owner-occupied. "The big thing that's most important to me is putting the homes, and I can't count the number of families I knew who grew up in homes on Western and Madison, back. They need to be zoned residential. They need to be put, made available to folks who want to live in them," Cerutti said.
Applyrs noted the Albany County Land Authority will determine the future of the former buildings that served as dormitories.
"The houses and the infrastructure the service lines will need to be retrofitted to accommodate making sure that mixed income families have the opportunity to live in in those spaces," said Applyrs.
The Rapp Road Landfill and the Sheridan Avenue Steam Plant are on this afternoon's agenda as the four candidates are set to participate in a "roundtable on the environment" at 2 at the First Unitarian Church in Albany.
Early voting begins June 14th.
