Following multiple setbacks, two Schenectady City Councilors kicked off their re-election campaigns Tuesday.
On the front steps of City Hall Tuesday, City Council President Marion Porterfield and Councilor Damonni Farley announced their intention to run for re-election on the Working Families Party Line.
The announcement comes after the incumbents did not receive endorsements from the Schenectady County Democratic Committee earlier this year and failed to gather enough signatures to run in June’s primary elections.
The Democratic Party has endorsed current Councilman John Mootooveren, City Planning Commission Vice Chair Hayden Engert and Hamilton Hill Neighborhood Association Treasurer Kim Wiggins for city council.
Farley, who has served on the council since 2021, attributes the committee’s decision to the work of a “few people.”
“A few of the power brokers who haven’t been happy about the way that we have challenged some of the way that they’ve been doing things and some of their ideology and they take it very personal,” Farley said.
The pair say they are independent voices running against a system of closed-door decisions within City Hall.
“The mayor would really prefer that he have control of the council and the independent voices is something that he is not fond of, so those decisions can be made and they get a rubber stamp at the council level,” Porterfield said.
Porterfield ran unsuccessfully against current mayor Gary McCarthy in the 2023 Democratic mayoral primary.
She says there should be voices on the council that represent every segment of Schenectady’s population.
“I sit at that table and I see some of the things that happen so that’s why its hugely important that those decisions aren’t made by a small group of people and then just passed through without any questions asked,” Porterfield said.
The candidates also say they will work to create more affordable housing in Schenectady.
Notably, Farley and Porterfield backed an effort to opt the city into Good Cause Eviction – a state law requiring landlords to provide a good reason to evict tenants.
The move, first introduced by Farley, was shot down in a 4-3 vote by the council in July. Instead, the council opted to create a Housing Stability Task Force that would have been headed by former Councilman Joseph Mancini.
He resigned in August.
“We need to figure out a way that people aren’t sleeping in the streets, I grew up in Schenectady, that’s something I have never seen before and it should not happen. Everybody should have a comfortable place to lay their head,” Porterfield said.
General election day is November 4th with early voting beginning October 25th.
