Another candidate has emerged as the race for mayor of Cohoes heats up. WAMC's Capital Region Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports from today’s kickoff.
Peter Frangie, a 47-year-old self-described "entrepreneur" and former city treasurer, is the third candidate to mount a challenge to first-term Democratic Mayor Shawn Morse. "We are all aware of the challenges we face as Albany and private investors continue to scrutinize Cohoes. For that reason, I wanna talk about a $10 million downtown revitalization grant that our city will never benefit from, as we are paralyzed by this reputation we keep."
Frangie alluding there to Mayor Morse's tenure, which has been marred by several incidents including allegations of domestic violence and an ongoing FBI investigation into his campaign spending. Morse apologized without giving specifics during his reelection kickoff. "There's difficult choices to make when you want to run for a position like this. And the message is clear. There's a lot of emotion. There's a lot of emotion in this campaign. There's anger and confusion, and I think as a community right now we need to put our emotions aside, and we all need to focus."
The Democrat says he loves the city, is proud to call it home, and wants to put it "back on track." "We need to assemble teams that have a clear understanding of the process and the people involved. A team of professionals that will truly include experts, members of our community, stakeholders and tap all available resources necessary. We also need to act now to save our beloved community center. Our city has the resources to resolve this matter. It has the ability to help sustain its future and yet chooses not to. I have personally spoken to many community members that are willing to play a vital role in that transformation."
Frangie didn't name names. Re-opening the Community Center is on every candidates' to-do list. Here's retired State Police trooper Bill Keeler: "Mom was among the original donors that initially funded the Cohoes Community Center. And we will reopen them."
Restoring integrity is on that list as well. City Councilman Steve Napier is also in the race: "The reason that I'm running for mayor now is because this is a time that our community needs someone to step forward and stand up for our values."
Mayor Morse says he alone holds the key to the Spindle City's future: "My first priority is the same priority I started when I ran in 2015, that is to make Cohoes New York become an All-American City once again.”
The primary is June 25th.
