© 2024 WRVO Public Media
NPR News for Central New York
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Utica mayoral race features a rematch

Payne Horning
/
WRVO News File Photo

The very fact that incumbent Utica Mayor Rob Palmieri can run for reelection again is one of the reasons his opponent, Utica Common Councilor Joe Marino, is trying to unseat him. In a controversial vote two years ago, a narrow majority of the council voted to extend term limits for the mayor and city councilors from eight successive years in office to 12, thus enabling Palmieri to seek a third term. Marino says Palmieri was behind this push, which he says should have gone before the voters since the original term limit law was passed by referendum.

Credit Tom Magnarelli / WRVO Public Media
/
WRVO Public Media
Joe Marino

"He clearly wasn’t interested in democracy because he turned around term limits," Marino said. "It was hard to swallow."

Marino says that was not the only time Palmieri was on the wrong side of an issue. In 2016, Palmieri vetoed a $75-million plan that Marino helped pass through the council to pave every road in Utica over a 15-year period. The publiclater reversed Palmieri's veto in a referendum. That same year, Palmieri supported a proposed asphalt plant in north Utica that the city council voted down after a backlash from local residents.

"Your neighborhood is not immune from Mayor Palmieri doing whatever he wants and not talking to you about it before, during, or after," Marino said. "Uticans need to be served by their government, not their government serving them."

Palmieri says he opposed the council's paving plan because it requires the city to borrow too much. He says he would have gone about the funding in a different way. As for the extension in term limits Palmieri, says they still exist.

"The people have a choice, and the city of Utica has term limits," Palmieri said. "It’s as simple as that."

Credit Tom Magnarelli / WRVO News File Photo
/
WRVO News File Photo
Utica Mayor Rob Palmieri, left

Palmieri says voters want his administration to continue. When he took over in 2012, there was a negative general fund balance and an $8 million budget gap. Today, there's about $7 million in the fund balance and the city has seen six consecutive budget surpluses.

"The city is in the best economic condition that it’s been for maybe my lifetime with all of the great things that are happening," Palmieri said. "There’s a feeling in the city of Utica that we haven’t felt in maybe 50 or 60 years and it’s just the beginning."

The Republican candidate for mayor, Matt Arcuri, didn't respond to requests for an interview.

Payne Horning is a reporter and producer, primarily focusing on the city of Oswego and Oswego County. He has a passion for covering local politics and how it impacts the lives of everyday citizens. Originally from Iowa, Horning moved to Muncie, Indiana to study journalism, telecommunications and political science at Ball State University. While there, he worked as a reporter and substitute host at Indiana Public Radio. He also covered the 2015 session of the Indiana General Assembly for the statewide Indiana Public Broadcasting network.