SCHENECTADY — The City Council plans to interview candidates to replace Gary McCarthy, who will step down as the council's president to become mayor next month, several council members said Friday.

One of the people in contention, Democrat John Mootooveren, narrowly lost his bid for one of the four seats on the seven-member council that were up for election this year, while another Democrat, Marion Porterfield, had been promised the post by party leaders, according to council member Barbara Blanchard. She said that the party expected Mootooveren to win his race on Election Day and that Porterfield had earlier agreed not run in a primary in exchange for being picked to take McCarthy's seat if he went on to win the mayoral election.

He did, but by a narrow margin. After leading Alliance Party founder Roger Hull by just 77 votes on Election Night, McCarthy was not declared the winner until Dec. 1 after an unsuccessful challenge over absentee and paper ballots from Alliance Party founder Roger Hull. In his role as council president, McCarthy became acting mayor when Brian Stratton resigned to become head of the state Canal Corporation. Next month, the council will elect one of its members to be the new president.

For now, all of the members of the council are Democrats, but that will soon change. Last month, Alliance Party member Vince Riggi was elected with the backing of the Republican Party.

On Friday, Blanchard said the council is scheduling groups of three of its members to meet "in executive session" to interview Mootooveren this weekend and Porterfield on Tuesday. However, other council members said details of the interviews have not been finalized.

State law requires that meetings of public bodies be open to the public. Council member Denise Brucker said the interviews do not have to be public because a quorum— in this case a majority of the council membership — will not be present.

Robert Freeman, executive director of the state Committee on Open Government, said the Open Meetings Law does not apply if there is no quorum.

If there was a quorum, he said, discussion behind closed doors of matters leading to the appointment to fill a vacancy in an elective office could be invalid under a court ruling on the matter, Freeman said.

Also, three members of a 7-member council can be considered a quorum, if those members belong to a committee, which in itself constitutes a public body, Freeman said. But Blanchard said members conducting the interviews in this case do not belong to a committee.

The ultimate decision will be made by the council after the newly elected members are sworn in, not by the lame-duck legislature. One of the newcomers is already setting himself apart from the pack on the selection process.

"I don't think it's the correct thing to do," Riggi said. "I think it should be open to the public, at city hall. I won't be attending any private meetings at anyone's house. It certainly has an air of secrecy. I just don't feel it's proper."

None of the newly elected council members or incumbents staying in office are members of a minority group. Joe Allen, the current council's sole African-American member, did not run for another term.

The appointment of either Mootooveren, who is a Guyanese immigrant, or Porterfield, an African-American, would restore diversity to the local legislature.

Should Mootooveren be appointed, it would not be the first time an unsuccessful candidate filled an elective office in Schenectady. In 2009, the city school board appointed Linda Bellick to fill a seat after she lost her race for re-election.



Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/loca.....83.php#ixzz1goXWpJmZ

Everything the DEMS do is illegal why should this be any different? They promised this to Porterfield thinking they would sweep with a huge moron vote. Vince Riggi had other ideas. Thank God years of one party implosion has been broken. Whatever stooge they pick the DEMS lose. One of their main voting blocs will be angry. Pass the popcorn!

Notice how the dems are trying to weasel their way out of it.   They keep changing the story.   Each time something is pointed out as wrong, they say "but"

Thank goodness for the council having someone on the council today who is not a stooge, not a puppet.   It will be harder for the dems to keep secrets from the taxpayers now.    

A pair watchful eyes will be on the council.   Someone who will truly work for the taxpayers in the neighborhoods rather than for the small MINORITY of dem socilalisst miillioniare downtown which is only a teeny fraction of the city.

So sad that the mayor and other council people, along with DV, think that a couple blocks of downtown is "the city"

They will pick another DEM stooge that takes orders from the fossil committee. Either weed lob Porterfield or the guy no one can understand. Another Linda Bellick-no one wanted either of them so slam one on the Council against the wishes of the people. These idiotic "executive" meetings are an illegal farce to trick the community. The Alliance Party is licking its chops.

Quoted from benny salami

Everything the DEMS do is illegal why should this be any different? They promised this to Porterfield thinking they would sweep with a huge moron vote. Vince Riggi had other ideas. Thank God years of one party implosion has been broken. Whatever stooge they pick the DEMS lose. One of their main voting blocs will be angry. Pass the popcorn!

My God benny...You must be the only person in the world who thinks a team that goes 1-5 and looses the top prize (doesn't matter if it's by 1 or 1000) is 'doing good' and 'made a difference'

It's a baby step. The DEMS all said they would sweep. Know that some want to go back to the good ol days when every City DEM ran unopposed and didn't have to spend a nickle to campaign. Alliance Party received more votes than all third parties COMBINED. Just announcing got rid of 4 incumbents. The longest journey starts with a single step.

Quoted from BuckStrider

My God benny...You must be the only person in the world who thinks a team that goes 1-5 and looses the top prize (doesn't matter if it's by 1 or 1000) is 'doing good' and 'made a difference'

With the dem HUGE enrollment advantage, the outcome of this election at least proves some residents may be awakening from the coma.  I hope Hull and Riggi and the Republicans continue to keep the pressure on while the residents are awake.  

When PG lost to stratton in another narrow race, the reps were never heard from again. This time it appears that Hull will continue his crusade along with his supporters which in turn can make a huge difference in the next election.

Quoted from bumblethru

When PG lost to stratton in another narrow race, the reps were never heard from again. This time it appears that Hull will continue his crusade along with his supporters which in turn can make a huge difference in the next election.

I agree.  This time is also different because the residents will open there tax bills soon and the momentum from the elections wont be lost.  I would be suprised if Gary makes it 4 years.  

Quoted from TakingItBack

I agree.  This time is also different because the residents will open there tax bills soon and the momentum from the elections wont be lost.  I would be surprised if Gary makes it 4 years.  

He won't make it one year. Trying for a State plum. This is all a charade to appease the Guyanese community. Marion Potterfield made the unthinkable happen with her lies on the Hill. So what if her office was fiscally mismanaged? She will fit right in with the other DEM stooges.

Quoted Text

SCHENECTADY
City Council Democrat dilemma
Party at odds over mayor’s vacant seat
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

A back-room deal among Democrats has now come back to bite the Schenectady City Council. The council must select a new council member to fill the vacancy left by Council President Gary McCarthy, who was elected mayor.
If the council Democrats follow their party’s recommendation, they will appoint Weed and Seed Coordinator Marion Porterfield to the vacant seat.
But the three members who ran for offi ce this year want to appoint the man who ran with them, but didn’t get enough votes to win.
The question becomes: is it better to appoint someone who didn’t win, but faced the voters, versus electing someone who did not have to endure public scrutiny, but also was not rejected by the voters?
And if they do not choose Porterfield, will she force a primary against their choice next fall? That would create division at a time when the Alliance Party is hoping to run a strong campaign to win a second seat on the council.
It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way.
Democrats thought their four candidates, including losing candidate John Mootooveren, would win the four council seats. They were so confi dent of this that they endorsed a fi fth candidate, Porterfield, to fill in the vacancy expected when McCarthy won the mayor’s seat.
    And the decision encouraged Porterfield, who wanted to run for City Council to not force a primary.
    “I am certain that factored into her decision-making,” said committee Chairman Brian Quail.
    Although Quail said no one promised her the seat in exchange for not running a primary challenge, the Democrats badly wanted to avoid a primary because they were facing five strong candidates from other parties. They wanted to begin an early campaign and show a united front, rather than in-fi ghting until six weeks before the election.
    So they agreed to an endorsement that said that if McCarthy won the mayor’s seat, Porterfi eld would be appointed to his council seat.
    But there was one flaw in that plan. There’s only one City Council member, Carl Erikson, on the Democratic committee’s executive
board.
    The others aren’t so sure that Porterfield is the best choice. The council gets to make the fi nal decision.
    None of them is saying who they will support, but Councilwoman Barbara Blanchard said the council should be able to make its own choice rather than rubber-stamping the Democratic Committee’s decision. ...........................>>>>..............................>>>>...........................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00902&AppName=1

Unadulterated Schenectady/Facebook

Why is there so much projection and analyzing of everything that goes on...let these people speak for themselves....and if they

don't want to.....leave the story be.....anything for print...but the Gazette is not the paper for this area...TU has it all over

them.....besides.....the Gazette is not worth the paper its printed on....

As crazy as some of the things Barbara brings (Talk about window caulk and lawnmowers(Good stuff just not the venue)) up from time to time, she does appear to take the right position on many of the items and often asks the right questions when needed.  I really think that she will be collaborating with Riggi often.  They both have the peoples best interest in mind although see does appear to cave due to the pressure at times (particularly from McCarthy).  I think that if she had a little support like Riggi last year she would have voted differntly and spoke up more when things appeared strange.  You could always see the puzzled look on her face like she couldnt believe what was happening.  

Barbara Blanchard is not running again and like Joe Allen will speak her mind more. Her lawn mower speech is a classic. A bid issue while the City goes down the toilet. This is DEM racism and tokenism at its worse. Can you image if idiot Margaret King said "we must appoint a white person"? The fix is in. Marion Potterfield a City lob who couldn't even file her paperwork is your new Council person. Beside she spied on the Alliance Party at early meetings. If you don't like it-too bad. Tricky Dicky aka The "Mailman" has made his pick. The Guyanese community got its wake up call.