The alderman-at-large occupies a unique spot in city government. As per the charter, the duties include serving as president of the Common Council and chairing its meetings and making committee appointments. The alderman-at-large is barred from voting on or even speaking to issues at council meetings, except in the rare event of a tie vote among the nine voting members. The alderman-at-large also fills in for the mayor during vacations and illnesses and, like the vice president of the United States, is the first in line of succession if the mayor vacates the office.
That last element brought incumbent Mayor James Sottile to office in February 2002 when T.R. Gallo died unexpectedly midway through his term. (Noble, then Ward 6 alderman, was elected to take Sottile’s spot as council president by fellow lawmakers). Sottile, alderman-at-large for eight years before ascending to the mayor’s office said the job requires a certain degree of neutrality to ensure that all nine council members can make their views known and bring worthy legislation to the table.
“As alderman-at-large, I was vocal on a number of issues,” said Sottile. “But the main issue has to be to make sure that everyone is treated in a fair and equitable manner.”
Let’s see action, says Marchetti
For Marchetti, what’s missing from the alderman-at-large job is not partisanship — an avowed independent, Marchetti insisted on maintaining his non-enrolled voter status as a prerequisite for accepting the GOP nomination — but action. Marchetti said that the power to appoint committees gives the alderman-at-large an opportunity to engage more citizens to tackle more of the city’s “A-List” problems like crime, cleanliness and taxes. Marchetti said he would form new committees made up of citizens and aldermen which could make recommendations to the council on a host of pressing issues. Among his appointees, Marchetti said, would be the losing candidates in the upcoming aldermanic elections.
“You’re going to have winners and losers in those aldermanic races and those losers are not in the race because they’re happy with the way things are going here,” said Marchetti. “They’re the first people you reach out to.”
Marchetti said as alderman-at-large he would push for changes in city government including making use of some of the city’s 15 volunteer firefighters to supplement and cut costs in Kingston’s professional fire department. Marchetti said that he would also like to see the addition of part-time police officers (something currently banned by the PBA contract) and a program to allow tradespeople and professionals to offer “services in lieu of taxes.” Marchetti also supports hiring back at least some of the 14 Department of Public Works laborers laid off in recent years to make the city a cleaner and more attractive place.
