The main event: Kingston’s next mayor could be decided this Thursday

Mayor Shayne Gallo. (Photo: Phyllis McCabe)

Financially, the city has largely recovered from the 2008 economic meltdown. In the last years of the administration of Mayor James Sottile, in the midst of a nationwide recession, the city implemented severe staff cuts and hefty tax increases. Under Gallo’s tenure, three budgets have passed within the state’s 2 percent property tax levy hike cap while the city’s bond rating has improved, making it cheaper to borrow money for large-scale infrastructure projects.

Much of the criticism of Gallo has centered on his leadership style. He’s engaged in high-profile conflicts with groups and individuals, ranging from city firefighters to a volunteer group which put on free movies in city parks. Contentious negotiations with unions representing city employees led to contracts which expired at the beginning of his term going unsettled for two and a half years.

Others report being cut off from access to city officials and resources after seemingly minor disagreements with the mayor. During a standoff between Cahill and County Executive Mike Hein over Cahill’s efforts to force the county to assume “Safety Net” welfare costs carried by city taxpayers, Gallo publicly blasted Cahill on a near-daily basis for holding up approval of a sales-tax extension.

Gallo, meanwhile, frames these conflicts as an outgrowth of his efforts to include “lunchbucket Kingston” in a political process that has long been dominated by a small clique of well-connected insiders.

“This partnership of inclusivity recognizes that we have stakeholders in this city with ideas concerning quality of life and economic development throughout the city,” said Gallo. “In all sectors, in all walks of life, not just a small group.”

Gallo has brought his combative style to the mayor’s race with an all-out attack on Noble’s professionalism and competence. After the Junior League of Kingston wrote a letter complaining that it hadn’t been properly advised on how to administer a grant for construction of a new playground at Forsyth Park, Gallo ordered Swanzey to look at seven grants administered by Noble and Parks & Rec Director Kevin Gilfeather. Swanzey found numerous problems with the grants, including that Noble had apparently committed more than 100 percent of his work hours as an “in-kind match” for the grants. Gallo publicly blamed Noble for the lapses and even apologized on his behalf in a city press release. Gallo also blasted Noble for saying in a recent debate that a fishing pier, the subject of one of the grants in question, was “going to be delivered” when in fact it remained in a warehouse unfinished and would remain so until the city paid several thousand more dollars for its completion.

“That’s very troubling,” said Gallo. “That’s not just a question of competence, that’s a question of veracity, of transparency.”

Noble called Gallo’s criticism of his work politically motivated. Noble noted that no state agency had questioned the grants and no money had been lost and claimed that the supposed controversy stemmed entirely from Gallo’s office. By engaging Swanzey to pore over the grant records and publicizing the results in official press releases, Noble said, Gallo was abusing his office and electioneering on the taxpayers’ dime.  Noble called the grant probe another example a troubling habit by the mayor — shifting blame onto underlings for perceived failures while taking credit for their successes.

“He has often played the blame game rather than take any responsibility,” said Noble. “Then he basically takes everyone’s work over the past four years — including the stuff I work on — and says, ‘Look what I’ve done.’”

For both candidates, the September primary is likely to be an all or nothing affair. Gallo had sought to compete in the Conservative and Independence Party primaries against Polacco. The third-party lines would have given Gallo a fallback position in the event of a Democratic primary loss. That path was blocked, however, when key documents from Gallo’s campaign arrived at the Board of Elections postmarked one day after the deadline. The party lines went to Polacco instead.