Primary races for three seats on Troy’s Republican-controlled city council could help change the makeup of Collar City leadership. And in each of the three races, changed or unexpected party affiliations, could factor in.
In Tuesday’s primaries, incumbent Bill Keal, a Republican, and Phil DiLorenzo, a Democrat, are both running on the Conservative line in District 1. Meanwhile, GOP-endorsed Richard Mosall and Democrat Noreen McKee are running on the Democratic party line for District 4, and in District 5, GOP-backed Eric Wisher and Democrat Jona Favreau are running on the Working Families party line.
The primaries in Districts 1, 4 and 5 come in a year that will also see three other council seats contested in November’s general election.
In District 1, DiLorenzo, a member of the Knickerbacker Park Board, says even though he is a Democratic candidate, he is running as a Conservative in the primary because residents “deserve a leader who puts community first.” DiLorenzo says he is a moderate voter whose values line up with Conservative voters in the city.
DiLorenzo says his priorities include moving toward a stricter code enforcement, more transparency, and the replacement of lead-contaminated water service lines.
Keal, of District 1, did not respond to WAMC’s interview request.
In District 4, Aaron Vera, a first-term Democratic city councilor, is not seeking re-election. McKee, who is vying to replace him and hold his Democratic seat, says her priorities include addressing the city’s crime and housing issues.
“I've met a lot of people, especially the elderly, who live in some of these apartment buildings and in Troy housing that I'd like to meet with,” McKee said. “Perhaps on a quarterly basis. And I’m going to see if I can arrange to go to those places and set up meetings so that people can express their concerns to me.”
Richard Mosall did not return WAMC’s call.
Further south, Eric Wisher, a former firefighter and union president is challenging Jona Favreau, a known city advocate. Both are running on the Working Families line to replace current second-term Republican Councilor Irene Sorriento. She is not seeking re-election for family reasons.
Wisher, who served more than 30 years on the city’s fire department, says the city’s first responders need more support.
At a recent city council meeting, councilors debated six bond resolutions relating to the city’s fire department totaling $16.1 million. Only one of the measures failed to make it out of the finance meeting, a resolution to issue a bond for $1.9 million to purchase a rescue vehicle and apparatus after a truck failed.
Wisher also says he wants to upgrade and replace the city’s pocket parks.
“We have beautiful nature areas right here in the city, you know, you don't have to travel to the mountains to enjoy these things, you know. And you can enjoy them for shorter periods of time,” Wisher said.
Both Wisher and Favreau say they are concerned about the city’s slow replacement of lead service lines. Mayor Carmella Mantello, a first-term Republican and former city council president, has pledged to replace all lead-contaminated lines in her first term, which expires in 2027.
Favreau tipped the city off on the contamination in 2023 after her son’s blood levels came back with elevated levels of lead.
“I loved the goal that Carmella set of replacing all the lead service lines within the four first four years,” Favreau said. “I thought that was a very ambitious goal. Admittedly, I've been a little disappointed at the rate in which the replacements have been happening. An example of that is last year, last May, the city had announced receiving federal aid of $12.8 million and to date, there hasn't even been an RFP out for a contractor or multiple contractors, to complete that work. So, I would really love to see a giant push from the administration.”
Mantello contends that while the money has been announced, in many cases it hasn’t been released.
Earlier this month, the city awarded a more than $570,000 contract to replace lead-contaminated pipes across the city. This month, the city also plans to announce multi-contractor RFPs to bolster replacement efforts.
Primary Day is Tuesday.
