Wellspring of history uncovered
Water Department crew finds wooden water main near Albany City Hall
Nestled below some city streets lies an unusual bit of history. Hollow tree trunks. Very, very old hollow tree trunks, remnants of the city’s first public water system.
No one is quite sure how many of those trunks remain buried beneath the city streets but every so often, city Water Department employees repairing a water main break stumble across them.
Earlier this month, one was dug up while crews searched for and patched a leak in a valve near City Hall, Water Commissioner Joseph Coffey said.
“I said as long as it’s there, let’s dig it up,” he said. “It’s not unusual for us to discover them.”
The city’s water delivery system dates back to 1678, making it the second-oldest in the country behind Boston’s, according to a Documentary History of American Waterworks.
Williams and Doreen Ditoro lead Samuel in that race, but the contest is close and will likely be determined by absentee ballots. Williams leads with 1,065 votes, followed by Ditoro with 1,011 and Samuel with 970.
Activists for racial justice and the leading candidates see the night as a repudiation of the establishment and a breakthrough for candidates of color.
The Rev. Nicolle Harris, president of Schenectady NAACP, said there has long appeared to be an unwritten rule in the city that candidates of color would be allotted one-by-one to fill slots by party leaders.
“It seemed like only one at a time could take a seat,” Harris said, citing Joseph L. Allen, the first Black person elected to the Council, who was followed by Porterfield, who was Tuesday’s top vote-getter in her contest. “This new government really is reflective of the community.”
The city received 233 absentee ballots by Tuesday morning, all but three of them Democratic, with the remainder for the Working Families Party. Election officials will begin a voting machine audit on Thursday followed by a canvass of valid absentee, special and affidavit ballots on Monday, a process that will continue until the top two vote-getters are determined.
Mootooveren could then schedule a roll call vote to seat them immediately, or could ask for unanimous consent from the floor.
Should Williams retain his lead, Samuel overcome his gap and Porterfield and Farley prevail in the general election, the number of seated Black lawmakers could potentially rise to four, a remarkable change from just a year ago.
Neither Samuel or Zalewski-wildzunas, both of whom have slots on Conservative Line, have conceded, with the latter stating that she intends on remaining in the race until November’s general election.
Republicans are fielding three candidates.
Savage, for his part, bested Mcgill in the Working Families Party primary and has retained the Conservative Party line.
“I will talk with my supporters and discuss with my family if we want to continue promoting this vision until the general election,” Savage said in a statement. “We will make a decision soon.”
Schenectady-based activists All of Us touted the results as an end to the “silence and acceptance” of the status quo, citing a ripple effect that began with co-founder Jamaica Miles landing a seat on the Schenectady City Board of Education last month.
“If what we’ve seen so far is any indication, we could be looking forward to the year that Schenectady elects the greatest number of Black people to elected office ever,” the group said in a statement.
City Democratic Committee Chairman Tom Bellick praised the diversity of the presumptive victors, but downplayed the outcomes as a rejection of the establishment. “I don’t think so,” Bellick said on Wednesday. “These were good people and a couple of the endorsed candidates didn’t win.”
County Democratic Committee Chairman Joe Landry didn’t immediately return a call on Wednesday.
In a campaign characterized by infighting, Bellick acknowledged a degree of reconciliation is in order before November’s election.
Bellick acknowledged the schisms and campaign sparring has been stressful, but sees a united Democratic team heading into November’s general election.
“We’re one big happy family whether we like it or not,” Bellick said, echoing a oft-used phrase by Mayor Gary Mccarthy.
Only 2,970 registered Democrats cast ballots on Tuesday, according to the county Board of Elections, or about 18 percent of active Democrats as of late February.