New, old faces coming to Cohoes City Hall next year
COHOES, N.Y. » City Hall will have some new faces come Jan. 1, as Mayor-elect Bill Keeler and Common Council members will start their terms.
Keeler, 55, is a native Cohoesier and spent a 32-year career in law enforcement starting with the Cohoes Police. He then joined the New York State Police where he rose to the rank of Major and commanded Troop G, which includes the Capital Region. He retired from law enforcement in January of 2017.
Keeler defeated former Mayor Shawn Morse, Peter Frangie and Councilman Steve Napier in the Democratic primary earlier this year.
Napier was still on the ballot for the general election as the Working Families Party and Independent candidate, however, shortly after the primary in June, Napier officially suspended his mayoral campaign and endorsed Keeler.
On Tuesday night, Keeler earned 1,996 votes ( 72.14%), while Napier earned 294 votes (10.81%).
The mayoral race was heated during the primary, as Morse was seeking re- election through various domestic abuse allegations and he eventually plead guilty to one count of wire fraud and faces up to 20 years in prison, a term of post-release supervision of up to 3 years and a fine of up to $250,000 when he is sentenced by Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy on Dec. 10, 2019.
During the guilty plea, Morse admitted he and his campaign treasurer, Ralph Signoracci, solicited and received contributions to his political committee the “Friends of Shawn Morse” and a political action committee.
The Common Council removed Morse from office in August and Council President Christopher Briggs was appointed as the acting mayor for the remainder of this year.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Keeler said early Wednesday morning. “There’s a lot of work to get done, but we have four good years ahead of us.”
Keeler said he has been meeting regularly with various transition committees along with Briggs.
“Mayor Briggs has been outstanding as far as sharing information and we’re on the same page as far as where’s the city’s going, so it’s made for a very smooth transition,” said Keeler.
Keeler said he looks forward to working more with Briggs, who was re- elected Tuesday night to his 3rd Ward council seat, along with other incumbents and new council members next year.
Keeler said he would be meeting with Napier on Wednesday to discuss Napier joining the economic development department in City Hall under his administration.
Council members, which is comprised of all Democrats, said they are looking forward to working with Keeler’s administration with hopes to continue to move the city forward.
Incumbent Ward 1 Councilman Bill Smith ran unopposed and earned 229 votes (97.03%).
“We can now put the last four years behind, and we’re going to move forward,” said Smith. “I’m hoping that we can change direction while keeping the accomplishments that we have done in the last four years moving forward.”
Incumbent Ward 2 Councilman Don Russell earned his seat back after receiving 162 votes (63.04%) over Republican candidate Anthony Kusaywa, who earned 94 votes (36.58%).
“It feels great [to be elected to another term],” said Russell, who also owns three restaurants within his downtown district. “I moved to this city a little more than 7 years ago with hopes of and anticipating of Cohoes coming alive.”
Briggs received 257 votes (74.71%) over Republican candidate Dustin Greco, who earned 86 votes (25.00%).
“I’m really appreciative that I continue to get the support from the 3rd Ward,” said Briggs. “I’m very happy, and I’m really looking forward to the next four years with the new administration.”
Incumbent Ward 4 Council William McCarthy earned his seat back with 519 votes (78.16%) over Republican challenger Christopher Deming Jr., who earned 145 votes (21.84%).
“I think I’m going to have a much easier time talking with the new mayor than I had with the old mayor [Morse],” said McCarthy. “[ Morse] and I did not see eye to eye on a lot of stuff, although some stuff did get done.”
In the 5th Ward, Democrat Adam Biggs defeated Republican candidate Christopher Davis. Biggs earned 527 votes (69.25%), while Davis received 223 votes (29.30%).
Biggs also had to compete in a special election over the summer since there ended up being issues with ballots during the Democratic primary in June.
“It’s very exciting to have [the election] over,” said Biggs. “It’s been a long process, but I’m glad the people of Cohoes had an option and I’m humbled that they chose me. I’m excited to move on to the next step and I look forward to serving residents of the ward and getting to work on their concerns.”
The 6th Ward was won by Democrat Justin Alesio, who earned 347 votes (65.60%) over Republican candidate Peter Kusaywa Sr, who earned 182 votes (34.40%).
“It feels fantastic,” said Alesio on Wednesday afternoon. “It’s exciting, you know I campaigned for the better part of the year and to come down to the end and have it all work out the way you want it to is definitely a good feeling.”