‘WHIRLWIND YEAR’
Mayor Charles Patricelli discusses first year in office; looks ahead to 2021
When Mayor Charles Patricelli took the oath of office in January, he appeared to be ready to hit the ground running.
He did so by filling positions with some new hires such as hiring Joe LaCivta as the city general manager. Patricelli also named Amanda Austin to the role of director of finance. Dave Wheatley was also appointed to become the next city clerk and clerk to a new City Council.
Although Patricelli started his tenure off in the right direction, once March came around, he had to change his game plan due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“To be honest with you, this first year was a whirlwind,” Patricelli said when asked about his first year in office. “It seemed to be a long year that all of a sudden disappeared just like that because it was constantly busy.”
“I was very excited about where we were going and the progress that we were making and the wind got kicked out of us with [the pandemic], but we still maintained the pace,” the mayor added.
Like many other municipalities, the first-year mayor and his administration had to make some tough decisions because of projected shortfalls in the city’s budget and aid.
Patricelli made the decision to furlough some employees including then-police chief Anthony Geraci. Eventually, the administration made the decision to let go of Geraci as a way to save the city some money. Lt. Brian Strock has been serving as the city’s acting
police chief.
The mayor also came to the conclusion that it wouldn’t be safe and would be hard to hire lifeguards to be able to open the city’s pool this past summer.
Although the administration had to make tough decisions like these, Patricelli said he was pleased with how the administration handled the curveball of a year.
Patricelli went on to discuss some of the accomplishments from the year.
He mentioned the city working on sewer lines, opening a dog park, making improvements to the Watervliet Dome and to the Dutch Reformed Church. He also spoke about the city making accommodations for restaurants to be able to have more space for outdoor dining during the pandemic.
“We tried the best that we could to maintain the level of services that we could with the financial impact that we were facing,” he said. “I feel good about the year, I think we did very, very well and I’m happy that I was able to be here and be involved in it.”
Looking ahead to 2021, the mayor is hopeful that more improvements can be made to city hall such as replacing old windows and upgrading the heating system. He also mentioned the reservoir the city uses in Guilderland and is hoping to work with officials from Guilderland to make necessary improvements at that facility.
Patricelli also provided a New Year’s resolution that he would like to make for the community.
“My hope and desire is to pull the city together as a community because I think we would be stronger together,” he said. “We don’t always have to agree, but we have to unite as a city. I’m also looking for more involvement from our residents.”