Mayor trumpets ‘hope and promise’
Cites accomplishments, challenges ‘nay-sayers’
Mayor Shayne Gallo said inclusive partnerships have given the city “hope and a promise of opportunities for all stakeholders.”
At the same time, though, the mayor called on “naysayers” to become involved in the community and the partnerships he says are moving it forward.
Gallo made the remarks during his annual State of the City address Thursday evening at Kingston City Hall. Over the course of about an hour and 45 minutes, the Democratic mayor read from a
prepared speech and talked off the cuff about changes the city has undergone in the three years since he took office and about initiatives in the works for the coming year. Gallo also took the opportunity to point out how seven of the nine members of the Common Council, in his opinion, vote on behalf of the public’s interest, rather than for “political elites and crony friends.”
“To those seven of the city council, thank you for acting on behalf of the public interest,” the mayor said. “You all deserve recognition for acting in a manner that puts petty politics aside and vote for the public interests, not personal.”
Specifically, Gallo referred to the Common Council’s 7-2 vote this week authorizing the city to borrow up to $105,000 to hire a consultant to design a plan the installation of energyefficient LED streetlights. Majority Leader Matthew Dunn, D-Ward 1, and Alderman Brad Will, D-Ward 3, both frequent critics of the mayor, cast the votes against the bond authorization.
Neither Dunn nor Will attended Gallo’s speech Thursday. Dunn previously said he encouraged Gallo to give the address at a meeting of the Common Council, as required by the City Charter. Rules aside, he said, addressing the council directly would demonstrate the chief executive and legislative branches can work together.
Instead, aldermen and women sat in the audience Thursday in the Common Council chamber at City Hall as Gallo spoke to a crowd of about 70, including city officials and department heads. Dunn declined to comment Friday on Gallo’s speech.
In his speech, Gallo said city government is not divided, as some might claim. He said if the government was split, the executive branch would not be able to work so well with most of the legislative branch.
As for achievements over the past three years, Gallo said Kingston now is being managed like a business. He said for each budget year, he has presented a transparent, accountable and modified zero-based spending plan in which each department head was required to review all expenses and demonstrate a savings or benefit for taxpayers.
Gallo said the city has reached collective-bargaining agreements with two of its three labor unions — the Civil Service Employees Association and the Kingston Professional Firefighters Association — and is close to reaching a deal with the Police Benevolent Association. He commended the city’s fire and police departments for giving back to the community and working to improve residents’ quality of life. The Department of Public Works also was credited with providing services with less personnel than in years past.
Going forward, Gallo said, the city must continue to market itself as a destination for cultural and recreational tourism and continue its partnership to invest in quality of life, building safety and code enforcement, parks and recreation, and infrastructure. While he mentioned a number of specific capital projects, he made no mention of the ongoing sinkhole repair project that has blocked part of Washington Avenue, a major city thoroughfare, since April 2011, nine months before he became mayor.
Gallo said he also wants to do more to attract hotels to the city, including in the Uptown district, and encourage economic development. Part of that would involve moving parking away from the site of the former Uptown parking garage so the land there can be developed, Gallo said. He said he also wants to do more to expand the arts and encourage film production in the cit y.
Council Minority Leader Deborah Brown, R-Ward 9, said she thought the mayor was on the right track with his initiatives. She said initiatives the mayor mentioned in his speech are not necessarily topics the public knows about.
“The mayor does a lot of interviewing and talking to developers,” said Brown, the council’s lone Republican. “And I think it’s all good.”
Brown said she was excited to hear about developers being interested in the former parking garage site and about the mayor’s goal of having more movies filmed in the city. She also was pleased with the mayor’s proposal to try to bring more business to the city’s industrial park.