Carmella Mantello hugs Judge Debra Young after being sworn in as the mayor in January.
TROY — The city's new mayor seems to be ... happy. I'm not sure what to make of it.
We live in the age of elected officials who seem to revel in their misery and anger. We've seen it at the presidential level, certainly, but the gloom is also obvious closer to home. For just one example, check out the X feed on offer from Steve McLaughlin, the Rensselaer County executive. It is not a place that conjures joy.
But then there's Carmella Mantello, the city's newly elected Republican. She's smiling. She's enjoying the job, enjoying Troy.
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"Amazing!!!!," she said, via text message, when I asked her recently how it felt to be mayor.
Maybe what we're witnessing is Mantello's relief at finally getting a job she's long wanted. She's more or less been pointing herself toward the role since 1993, when she was first elected to the City Council. The daughter of a Troy police officer and a lifelong resident of the city, she ran for mayor and fell short twice previously, until finally winning last November in her third attempt.
The road to the job has included misjudgments and humbling moments, not to mention a cynical calculation or two. Don't underestimate Mantello's grit or guile. She's worked for this. She's fought for this.
Maybe the smile will fade when the reality of the job settles in, when the city's many problems start to feel endless and intractable. Certainly, there will be tragedies and controversies. There always are, in Troy more than most places.
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But there was Mantello on Wednesday night at the Music Hall, delivering her first State of the City. Was it the most riveting speech the world has heard? Well, no. But it was full of details and specifics and, more to the point, energy and optimism. It looked forward. It told Troy residents that the city was going to improve and that they, too, would have more reasons to smile.
Alas, we are a divided people, prone to hating those who don't fully agree with us. Judging by social media, it isn't just the politicians who are miserable. Maybe they are only reflecting what we give them. Maybe bitterness and anger are what too many of us want and demand from them. It's depressing to consider.
Mantello, though, did a little jig at the end of her speech and absolutely beamed as she walked across the stage. It was infectious, almost a throwback to a different political era and a more hopeful, bullish time.
We'll learn whether Mantello's attitude translates into better city government, but she does seem off to a fast start. With crews out scrubbing streets and picking up accumulated garbage, the city already looks cleaner, even during the waning weeks of a muddy winter. Mantello mentioned that progress during a speech devoted to quality-of-life issues.
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"You're going to get tired of hearing me say this, but the most important role of the government is to keep our people, all of our people, safe," Mantello said. "Every day the senseless death of Ayshawn Davis reminds me of the work we have to do."
Davis was an 11-year-old killed in a 2020 drive-by shooting, four blocks from City Hall. His mention was among the few somber moments of Mantello's speech and led her to note that without safe streets other priorities — economic investment and educational attainment among them — will fall short. Safe streets are the bedrock, Mantello said.
If there was news in the speech, it might have come when Mantello noted that police in Troy will be wearing body cameras or when she called on Gov. Kathy Hochul to keep the Burdett Birth Center open. She also revealed, as my colleague Kenneth C. Crowe II reported, that the latest plans for a new building on Monument Square have fizzled.
Of course, they have. Why shouldn't Mantello get a chance to experience that headache?
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Still, the speech was underlaid by a sense of gratitude from a new mayor thrilled to have the job, no matter the headaches and heartbreaks ahead. Gratitude, defined by G.K. Chesterton "as happiness doubled by wonder," is too rare a thing in a society marked by its expectations. Politicians, in particular, too often act as though the public owes them something.
For now, at least, Mantello is different. She's smiling.
Churchill: Carmella Mantello is enjoying Troy
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24.02.2024
Carmella Mantello hugs Judge Debra Young after being sworn in as the mayor in January.
TROY — The city's new mayor seems to be ... happy. I'm not sure what to make of it.
We live in the age of elected officials who seem to revel in their misery and anger. We've seen it at the presidential level, certainly, but the gloom is also obvious closer to home. For just one example, check out the X feed on offer from Steve McLaughlin, the Rensselaer County executive. It is not a place that conjures joy.
But then there's Carmella Mantello, the city's newly elected Republican. She's smiling. She's enjoying the job, enjoying Troy.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
"Amazing!!!!," she said, via text message, when I asked her recently how it felt to be mayor.
Maybe what we're witnessing is Mantello's relief at finally getting a job she's long wanted. She's more or less been pointing herself toward the role since 1993, when she was first elected to the City Council. The daughter of a Troy police officer and a lifelong resident of the city, she ran for mayor and fell short twice........
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