Candidates square off in mayoral debate
TROY, N.Y. » Collar City finances, infrastructure and public safety were at the forefront of a mayoral debate Tuesday night at the Lansingburgh Boys & Girls Club.
The debate featured incumbent Troy Mayor Patrick Madden, running on the Democrat and Working Families Party lines, Tom Reale, running on the Republican and Conservative lines and Rodney Wiltshire, running on the Independence, Libertarian and Green lines.
“I’m running for re- election because as I indicated earlier, we haven’t completed what we started. We’ve come a long way in correcting the city’s finances and that may be a big yawn for a lot of people. Why does that matter to me? How does it improve my life? But it impacts everything we’re able to do,” Madden stated of the importance of resurrecting city finances.
“So, whether we can repair the pools, whether we can replace the firehouse in Lansingburgh, whether we can buy a new fire engine, all depends on our fiscal stability, on our fiscal viability. We have made very difficult decisions over the past four years, we have made them with an eye to not just you but your children and your grandchildren. We’re making solid long-term decisions without regard for political expediency,” Madden added of a longterm strategy for shaping the city.
Conversely, Reale emphasized the importance of addressing pres
ent basic services in Troy.
“What I do think a lot of people in here do have a problem with is the lack of attention to current considerations. You mentioned that it would be easier to pander to people and give folks what they need now, there are many things that we need right now,” Reale said.
“One item for instance is our pools right here in Lansingburgh and South Troy. There can be a healthy balance between long-term success for our city and ensuring that people have access to basic services like parks
and recreation, like our pools,” Reale added of striking a balance between the current and future needs of Troy residents.
“You had three years to deal with the situation of the pools, moreover those pools should never have been closed in the first place. Our city has poor people in it, poor children that need recreational activities,” Wiltshire noted of the need for activities and programs needed for youth in the city.
The candidates also addressed investigations related to police- involved shootings in the Collar City.
“No, there was absolutely no cover up [in the Edson Thevenin case] and with respect to Dahmeek McDonald, I took the step of ask
ing the police department to bring the FBI in to do the investigation. So that investigation was conducted by the FBI and it was reviewed by a D. A. not of Renssealer County but out of Schenectady County. So we have taken steps to separate our police investigation of our own issues,” Madden said of attempting to delegate the investigation with independent departments outside the city.
“As far as the Edson Thevenin matter, that was a tragedy of epic proportions, I am committed to making sure that goes through the court and it’s winding its way through the courts right now and we are doing everything we can right now to make sure that hap
pens as expeditiously as possible,” Madden said, preaching patience for the final report findings.
“It’s hard for people in the audience to believe there’s no cover up going on when there are pieces of information that should be made public, that the city is not making public. There’s an internal affairs report that was not scrutinized by anyone outside of our government and it’s existence wasn’t even something that the public was made aware of until a judge forced it out into the open,” Reale retorted.
“I think it’s crucial with an issue such as the Thevenin shooting to ensure that all information that has been produced is out there for the public to see, to scru
tinize, so that everyone has a good understanding based on expert evaluation of the situation so that we can all make qualified decisions on exactly what happened that night. When we have information that’s being kept from the public all that does is feed a difficulty for anyone to believe exactly what is being put out there,” Reale added on the need for more transparency.
“I have to applaud and
thank the chief for seeking outside counsel and looking into this beyond this,” Wiltshire said of the investigation.
“If you lie about the pools, and you make promises and you push things that aren’t the truth, how can we site here and believe anything that you’re saying?” Wiltshire added.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5.