SMOOTH TRANSITION
Mayor Charles Patricelli discusses accomplishments, goals in his new role
WATERVLIET, N.Y. » Just two weeks into his term as Watervliet mayor, Charles Patricelli has been hitting the ground running.
Patricelli, a Democrat, took office on Jan. 1. He ran unopposed for the mayoral seat after Michael Manning announced he would not seek re- election last year.
Patricelli retired Jan. 28, 2016, after 33 years as executive director of the Watervliet Housing Authority.
A city native, he grew up in the Brotherhood Park neighborhood and graduated from Watervliet High School. He went on to attend Hudson Valley Community College and is a 1976 graduate of Siena College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing and management.
Patricelli, along with newly elected Councilman
Peter Torncello, immediately filled Patricelli vacant City Council seat with the appointment of Barb Diamond at the first council meeting of the year.
Shortly after making that appointment, Patricelli announced Joe LaCivita would become the city’s next general manager, effective Jan. 20
he position was previously held by Jeremy Smith, who left the position in October 2019. Mark Spain was then appointed acting general manager. Patricelli also announced that Spain, the city’s former police chief, would stay on as the city’s new deputy general manager.
The general manager’s office runs the day-to- day operations of the city in fulltime positions as the mayor’s seat is a part-time role. The mayor said the new deputy general manager position will not have an effect on taxpayers or the city’s budget.
Patricelli said LaCivita brings well over two decades of governmental and entrepreneurial experience with him and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business from SUNY Empire State College.
Watervliet’s Director of Finance Mike McNeff also recently left his city position for a position with Albany County, according to
Patricelli. The mayor said that Deputy Director of Finance Amanda Austin was promoted to take on McNeff’s position and that the city intends to work with the Albany County Comptroller’s Office on some shared services in the finance department.
“It’s been more of a
smoother transition than I thought,” Patricelli said during a recent interview at his City Hall office. “[Having these appointments done is] a ton off my shoulders. The feeling was a very big relief.”
Patricelli said some other goals of his is to update the city’s comprehensive plan along with other studies including the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative.
The mayor also mentioned working on the 2020 Census, converting street lights to LEDs, the lead service line replacement program on 9th Avenue, the water filtration plant capital project and focusing more on the city’s reservoir, which is located in Guilderland.
“[ The comprehensive plan] is a 10-year plan and it’s due now to be updated, so we’re looking at updating it now,” said Patricelli. “What I’m looking to do now is to update it with input from residents, the business community and outside people to see what could be done here.”
“One of my main focuses is trying to work more on the reservoir,” Patricelli added. “We’re trying to look at the reservoir a little bit more as an asset and how we can improve on that asset and how can we provide better service to even Guilderland. We’ve had issues there over the course of years, and we’re trying to work on that.”
Spain, who left the police department last year for a public safety position at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, said that he has already learned a lot during his time as the acting general manager and is eager to work more with city officials in his new role.
“Hanging onto that public safety role, I think helps me in this position [with the city] as well,” Spain said. “I’ve learned a lot in the short time that I’ve been here, not just necessarily looking at the police department from a different level, but looking at all departments and picking up on some of this grant stuff.”