Democratic Committee selects Patrick Madden for mayor

MADDEN

The Troy Democratic Party Selection Committee is expected to announce it is recommending Patrick Madden, the long-time executive director at the Troy Rehabilitation and Improvement Program, for mayor either later today or tomorrow.

The recommendation will now go to the full committee for a formal vote. The full committee could accept Selection Committee’s recommendation but could vote for someone else who interviewed or someone else altogether. A break from the Selection Committee, however, is unusual and would require a candidate to buck county chairman, Tom Wade, and city chairman, Jack McCann, both of whom serve on the Selection Committee.  

The Selection Committee interviewed a number of candidates for the city’s top spot including Council President Rodney Wiltshire and newcomer Earnest Everett, both of whom have announced their intention to run a primary if they don’t get the party’s support.

Also interviewed were county Legislator Ed Manny and Elizabeth Young-Jojo, the former executive director at the city’s Downtown Improvement District.

Madden, who is not enrolled in any party and can’t vote for himself in a primary, has headed up TRIP, a non-profit organization geared toward housing for low and moderate income individuals and families, since 1987. He is Rensselaer County Executive’s Kathy Jimino’s brother. Jimino is arguably the most powerful Republican in Rensselaer County.

WILTSHIRE

Wiltshire was elected citywide twice and has publicly battled with Wade and the party hierarchy. He has stated he will take his case to the full committee to try to get the party’s endorsement but is prepared to run a primary should he fall short. He will also likely get the Working Families Party support and if that happens he will be on the ballot in November regardless of what the full Democratic committee does over the next couple weeks or the Democratic Party voters say in September’s primary. If Madden is successful in September, as the dynamics stand now, he will have one line headed into November’s general election.

Everett, on the other hand, does not have the ground troops the WFP will provide Wiltshire, and being a newcomer has less of a chance than Wiltshire to swing the full committee to his side. Everett could even have a tough time getting the required 421 signatures – 5 percent of the enrolled Democrats in the city – to get on the primary ballot. But, if the Wade Democrats want to derail Wiltshire, they would help Everett get the necessary signatures because, it is widely believed, he would siphon votes from the council president.

EVERETT (TU PHOTO)

Nobody has formally announced their mayoral intentions for the Republicans but former Councilwoman Carmella Mantello is expected to do so next month. And Councilman Jim Gordon, R-District 1, has all but announced too. Councilman Dean Bodnar, R-District 3, said he is ready and willing to run should the party need him to step up but added he would not primary Gordon should his Council colleague get the endorsement.

Mantello, though, indicated she is moving ahead with her own campaign regardless of what the party does. Appearing on Talk 1300, she said she would seek the Green Party endorsement and create another line along the theme of keeping term limits in place in Troy.

An odd dynamic is that Madden is Jimino's brother and Gordon works for Jimino as the county's DWI coordinator.

Last month, Mayor Lou Rosamilia, a Democrat, announced he would not seek a second term.

More information as it becomes available.       

Mason is a marshal without the mess

MASON

By unanimous vote, the Troy Council approved the appointment of five city marshals, bypassing the drama that accompanied the largely benign position two years ago.

To get around the drama, the Council lumped all five marshals – Jack McCann, Rick Mason, Keith McDermott, Mike McDonald and Mike DeViddio - into the same resolution that it unanimously passed at last week’s meeting. Even though some of their terms have not yet expired, the Council opted not to stagger the appointments thereby isolating certain marshals that in the past have drawn political fire. McCann's term isn't up until the end of the month, for example, and Mason's isn't up until May.

If you remember, two years ago, Rensselaer County Democratic Party Chairman Tom Wade came out strong against the Mason’s appointment in part, because he was a friend of then Councilman Kevin McGrath. Initially the Council passed Mason’s appointment 5-2, Mayor Lou Rosamilia vetoed it because of a technicality and a month later it passed by a 5-4 vote. In the middle of all that, Wade made the unprecedented call for McGrath’s resignation.  In the end McGrath won the battle and eventually the war.

This year, however, everything went off without a hitch or even a whisper. Obviously, the dynamics have changed in two years. McGrath (pictured right) opted not to run for another term, Rodney Wiltshire usurped Lynn Kokpa as Council president – the former not being nearly as loyal to Wade as the latter – and he’s willing to cut some deals with the GOP minority while still appeasing the Wade crowd.

By approving the marshals en masse everyone gets what they want without raising the ire or egos of those involved.

The anti-Wade crowd gets Mason, the Wade crowd gets McCann, McDermott and McDonald the GOP get DeViddio – who has been a loyal party soldier for years.

The marshal is a pretty benign appoint in that their paycheck is based on the number of summons and eviction notices they choose to deliver, but with the limited number of jobs at the Council’s decision it is seen as a way to pay back those loyal to a party or a person.  

The next GOP chair; and chatter about Tom Wade

GORDON

Now that Jim Gordon has stepped down as the Republican city chairman, which occurred prior to him winning a seat on the Troy Council representing District 1, the question remains who will take his place in what is one of the most difficult and thankless jobs in the county.



Many people are pointing to Kevin McCashion, the staunch Libertarian who unabashedly, and vigorously, promotes the party’s anti-big government and pro-civil liberties at all cost platform on social media.

MCCASHION

The thing about McCashion is his take no prisoners’ attitude scares some in the GOP because he won’t take them prisoners either. He’d just as soon as rip his own party as the Democrats if they are too passive, dull or otherwise not running the campaign he thinks they should. Or at least that’s what some in the GOP are scared of.

While some may have reservations about McCashion, I don’t know who else the GOP has. Mark Wojcik? Maybe? He was vice chair and is currently serving as interim chair but I don’t think he wants the commitment being a successful chairman would require.

Regardless of who it is, the chairman has a catchy title but really answers to the powers that be at the county level including Rich Crist, liaison for the GOP county legislators, County Executive Kathy Jimino and County Clerk Frank Merola. At least that’s how it’s been for more than 15 years and is another reason McCashion might not get the nod – I don’t see him deferring to anyone without good reason.

On the flip side of things, after Rodney Wiltshire won the Council presidency, there is the annual chatter about the future of county Chairman Tom Wade (pictured left). Wiltshire, and the likely president pro temp, Ken Zalewski, are not Wade’s guys  and there is a divide already forming on the Council between those who are Wade’s guys and those who aren’t.

Wiltshire (pictured right) got a bunch of support from the “Delusional Bunch,” a group of disenfranchised Democrats who include former Councilmen Michael LoPorto and Clement “Chappy” Campana, and former operative Robert Martiniano as well as a group of Working Families Party people. (As an aside Wade coined them, not me.) That alone should be a warning to Wade, but they took a shot at the last organizational meeting and Wade beat their candidate, Robert “Rabbit” Riley, by a sizable margin. Wade is a shrewd politician, is into the job, is good at the job and I don’t think he goes anywhere until he wants to.

The Dems city chair is Jack McCann but he answers to the county chair. It will be interesting to see if McCann gets re-appointed to his city marshal spot by Wiltshire and company. It’s already a given, since they are Wade’s people, most of the current appointees to clerk, deputy clerk, auditor, bingo inspector and city marshals will not have a job come Jan. 1.

But, if they go after McCann, consider it all-out war.