Dems’ 2nd choice appointed to seat

Committee withdraws support from first choice after 2017 emails surface

The Albany County Legislature appointed someone to fill the seat left vacant by Ralph Signoracci’s resignation late last year, but it’s not who Cohoes Democrats initially touted.

Instead of Van Schaick Island Neighborhood Watch Group leader Tom Mcgrath, legislators approved the recommendation of John Frainier, a former Cohoes council candidate, to the empty District 17 seat.

After plans to recommend Mcgrath were made public Jan. 7, concern began to swirl around the appointment. Cohoes Democratic Committee Chairman Gil Ethier, a county legislator, said the choice was made quickly because of the time crunch. County legislators are up for reelection this year, and Mcgrath wasn’t planning on running for the seat in November, Ethier said. The recommendation of Mcgrath also allowed all those who were interested in the seat a fair shake, he said.

Signoracci, a Democrat, resigned as legislator to become director of municipal affairs for county Comptroller Michael Conners. He also resigned as Cohoes’ director of operations.

The move comes at a time when he and Cohoes Mayor Shawn Morse are being investigated by the FBI for the handling of Morse’s campaign funds. Signoracci was Morse’s treasurer.

Republicans in Cohoes had recommended 33-year-old Cassandra Horn. Her nomination was defeated by legislators.

Ethier blamed the shift among Democrats on “awful, nasty” emails forwarded by Cohoes councilman Randy Koniowka to legislative leaders. In 2017, Mcgrath forwarded two chain emails to dozens of people in the Van Schaick Island Neighborhood Watch Group.

Mcgrath didn’t write the emails, but the content within them suggested Muslims couldn’t be good people or good Americans and another suggested that the removal of the Robert E. Lee memorial statue in Charlottesville, Va., was a precursor to other actions which could threatened the constitution, according to the emails obtained by the Times Union.

At the time the emails were sent, Koniowka and others expressed their displeasure over them.

When word got out that Mcgrath was being recommended to represent Cohoes residents on the county legislature, Koniowka said constituents considered making those emails public.

“When you send something out to 50 people, it’s going to come out,” Koniowka said. “I tried to prevent a scandal.”

Ethier said during the county Legislature meeting Monday that the emails forwarded by Koniowka implied Mcgrath was “racist against Muslims.”

Mcgrath could not be reached Tuesday.

Wanting to avoid the boiling controversy, Ethier said Mcgrath backed out and Cohoes Democrats had to go back to the drawing board.

Ward leaders within District 17 consulted with committee members, Ethier said, and ultimately voted on the people they knew were interested in running for the seat — Frainier, Koniowka and former Cohoes council member Bill Ricard.

Frainier was the only one to receive support from committee members, Ethier said.