Surprise election in ‘Vliet
WATERVLIET, N.Y. » Due to past mistakes in the length of City Council members’ terms of office, Councilman Charles Patricelli was recently informed that he would need to run in a special election this year instead of in 2021.
Patricelli, a Democrat, was elected to his current council seat after running unopposed in
2016 and officially joined the council in 2017. Patricelli ran for the open council seat after Democratic Councilwoman Ellen Fogarty decided to not seek re- election.
Fogarty had run for her council position in 2008, after Mayor Michael Manning left his council seat early after being elected mayor in 2007 and instead of running to fill the final two years of Manning’s council seat term, she was elected to a full four-year term.
After serving her first full four-year term, Fogarty was then re- elected to another four-year term, which ended at the end of 2016.
Officials then made a similar mistake in 2010, after former councilman Charles Diamond resigned from his seat one year early and then former councilman Nick Foglia ran that year and was elected to a four-year term instead of one year. After his first four-year term Foglia was re- elected to serve another four-year term.
Then in 2017, Foglia resigned from his council seat with one year left on his term. Manning and Patricelli could not agree on anyone to appoint to Foglia’s vacant seat, so they waited until Councilman Frank McGrouty then won the election in 2017 and was appointed to the seat one month early in December of 2017.
After McGrouty was elected to his council position, Patricelli immediately questioned as to whether McGrouty should serve a four-year term or a shorter term after Foglia’s resignation and city officials continued to do it the way that they had in the past, which was to elect him to a four-year term instead of filling the unexpired term.
The City Charter states that elections to the three-member council must be done in odd-numbered years, with the mayor and one council member appearing on the same ballot and in the next election two years later the other council member is supposed to run.
According to the Albany County Board of Elections, Patricelli needs to run again this year for what would be a threeyear term and then McGrouty and Manning needs to run for their positions in 2019.
“Due to past mistakes by the city administration in the filling of unexpired terms for the City Council since 2008 the election cycle was incorrect and now the Board of Elections is asking that the city correct this deliberate mistake and get the terms of office back in sync. Therefore, even after being properly elected for a four year term in 2016, I need to run NOWfor a three year term. I’m prepared to do that and I’m humbly asking for your support on Election Day,” Patricelli said in an email announcing his reelection campaign.
The past mistakes became relevant after city officials saw that the Albany County Board of Elections had on their website that there would be a councilperson election in Watevliet this year, but city officials
had thought that McGrouty would serve a four-year term after being elected last year and that Patricelli had already been elected to a four-year term, which he is in his second year of now.
“The way that things were done previously in the city was that anybody who was elected was elected to a four-year term, so we be-
lieved that to be true,” explained City General Manager Jeremy Smith.
“The consensus now is to follow the board of elections opinion and if we have an election this year and another one next year then everything’s back on track,” added Manning.
Patricelli called the dilemma “an embarrassment for the city”, although he said he will run again this year and will do so on the same campaign platform that he previously ran on,
which has to do with financial stability; improve the overall appearance of the city, update city parks and be accessible to all city residents.
After the 2019 elections, city officials believe that the cycle should be back on track and the way the county board of elections states that it should be now.
Candidates can start circulating nominating petitions on June 5 and have until July 12 to file them.