First-term Troy Mayor Patrick Madden reflected on his first year in office and was optimistic about the future during his State of the City address last night.
Troy has seen several challenges over the last year and Mayor Madden recognized that at the start of his second State of the City address.
“Each year the mayor stands before you to celebrate our community’s success and discuss the year ahead. When we began this journey a year ago, difficult decisions were facing us, daunting problems. We knew confronting these tasks would not be easy,” said Madden.
Perhaps the highest-profile story to come out of Troy over the last year was the debate over the annual budget.
The city’s dire financial picture had been criticized by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. Madden held a handful of budget workshops in 2016 before unveiling his spending plan in October.
The budget shocked residents with a 28 percent tax increase. Negotiations between the Democratic mayor and the Republican-led city council bounced back and forth before a compromise tax hike of 14.5 percent was approved. The mayor said all of the shortcomings pointed out by the comptroller were addressed and that the city now knows where it stands financially.
Madden thanked the City Council for working with him and said that he will continue his “fact-based” approach and again make the budget process open to community input in 2017.
“We will continue and expand on that effort in 2017. It is your money and you have the right to know how we spend it. To say last year’s budget process was challenging would be an understatement of enormous proportions,” said Madden.
In the new year, Madden hopes to step up code enforcement. He said handheld technology would be deployed to city Code Enforcement Officers. Adding a third City Court Judge, he predicted, would help the city undertake enforcement faster. The mayor also hopes to revive a civil enforcement program that blends city police, Codes, and Department of Public Works to target blight.
As part of the cuts in the current budget, the city’s public pools will not open this summer. Madden said that’s led to the exploration of a Youth Service Commission to give more opportunities to young people.
2016 saw drops in violent crime and property crime. The mayor said the city’s grant writer will work to secure funding for School Resource Officers and to support community policing.
On infrastructure, Madden said the city needs to be “proactive” about the century-old pipes underneath the city. About one year ago a water main burst, affecting Troy residents and neighboring communities. The mayor said his administration will advocate for state funding to maintain the city’s water plant and distribution system.
Madden hopes to see a 2.1 megawatt solar array to power city facilities operating in a “few short months.” Construction will also begin this year on improving 7,750 feet of seawall along the Hudson River, supported by a $13 million federal grant.
With growing private investment and a booming downtown, Madden is optimistic about the future. And given the challenges of the previous year, he hopes to see a more fiscally stable 2017.
“My crystal ball isn’t that good, but assuming all things stay equal – meaning we don’t go into a recession or sales tax numbers don’t or pension costs don’t go up – I’m looking for stability. I don’t think we’ve completely corrected the problems of the past but we’ve completely corrected the problems of the past but we’ve made great strides with this last budget,” said Madden.
Madden also recognized the service of his first Corporation Counsel, Kevin Glasheen. Madden has appointed James Caruso as his next Corporation Counsel. City Council President Carmello Mantello is seeking a confirmation vote on the mayor’s appointment.
