Three candidates are looking to take over as Utica mayor as current Mayor Robert Palmieri will reach the end of his term limit after 12 years at the job.
Following her Democratic Primary win, Utica Common Councilor Celeste Friend is ready to face the general election. For her, community communication is the primary issue to tackle.
“I want to be part of the future and I think that there are some particular things that we are going to have to do in order to really move into that future as quickly and confidently as possible,” Friend said. “One of those is the need for city government to communicate to all the constituents in the city.”
She said bringing more transparency to city government will lead to more trust, investment and development. Friend will also appear on the Working Families third-party line.
Robert Cardillo lost the Republican primary in June but is running on the Conservative party line. He said crime is still the biggest concern. Cardillo said he is one of the only candidates with a concrete public safety plan.
“Crime is definitely the number one issue as far as I am concerned,” Cardillo said. “I introduced a crime plan which would be what I call a ‘precinct plan’ to bring precincts back into every one of the sections of the city. Cornhill, East Utica, North Utica, South Utica and West Utica. In particular, West Utica and Cornhill need the most help and my program is in part to have neighborhoods be a part of it.”
Mike Galime, who won the Republican Primary and is the current Utica common council president, is also concerned with public safety, but plans to focus on youth engagement to bring Utica to the next stage. He said providing youth with more resources and opportunities ties right in with safer communities.
“That’s part of the public safety discussion,” Galime said. “Do we need to bring consequence back for a lot of the things that are happening in society? Absolutely. But if we don’t also pay attention to the human aspect of creating opportunity and guidance for our youth we can’t just go back to providing consequence.”
