Williams running for spot on city council
Republican encouraged by share of vote in November
WATERVLIET, N.Y. » Republican Andrew Williams is running for a city council seat again.
Last year, Williams ran and lost in the general election to Democratic Councilman Charles Patricelli.
But Williams said that he wanted to run for city council this year again because he believes he can help improve Watervliet. “It has been another year of the status quo in the city, since Councilman [Nicholas] Foglia resigned his position, there has been a vacant seat, and the current city councilman and the mayor cannot seem to agree on anything. There needs to be a third person there, and it needs to be someone who can think and act independently, and in the best interest of their neighbors above all else,” said Williams on Friday afternoon. “I was up against long odds last year as well, but I still managed to pull 25 percent of the vote in a city where Republican registrations are outnumbered by around 8 to 1. I found that to be very encouraging.”
Williams is a city resident who graduated from Waterford-Halfmoon High School and is currently chairman of the city Republican Committee. He works as an agent for Olmstead Real Estate Group and also is a 911 dispatcher for the Albany County Sheriff’s Office.
Williams said one of his priorities, if elected to the council in November, would be to look at the possibility of expanding the city council, to include more councilmembers with wards.
The city council is usually comprised of three people. Currently, there is only Mayor Michael Manning and Patricelli on the council because Foglia resigned earlier in the year.
“One goal is looking at the possibility of expanding the city council so that each voting ward would have their own representative,” said Williams. “I know that is how a lot of other cities work, and it would also help prevent the current stalemate in the city council if one of the members was not present.”
Another goal for Williams would be to work with newly appointed city General Manager Jeremy Smith and his new “We are Watervliet” initiative, which aims to boost pride in the community.
“Another goal is to build a new sense of pride in the community up, along with the newly appointed general manager. You look at the surrounding cities — Cohoes, Troy — both have done a lot of work to bring back a vibrant downtown area,” said Williams. “They also have a variety of community events, such as summer concert series that are well attended. Expanding community family friendly events will be a goal.”
Some other possible goals for Williams include taking a look at the city’s annual budget, and to also work on getting new businesses in empty storefronts around the city.
“A serious review of the city budget will be a number one priority to identify any gaps, and to find other ways to increase the city’s revenue without having to raise taxes on the homeowners who have expressed concerns about being taxed out of their homes,” said Williams.
“We need to find a way to attract sustainable businesses to the area — there is no reason to have empty storefronts on a highly travelled route like 19th Street in the middle of the city. Filling these empty storefronts will bring new businesses such as retail, or restaurants all of which will need employees to run them. Creating and maintaining jobs is the foremost concern. We also need to come together as a community to help support the small businesses that we already have as small business owners are the absolute backbone of every community.”