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Michael Harrington - District 5 City Councilperson Interview by Janette Kaddo Marino Could you give us a little bit of information about yourself and tell us where you grew up and your educational background? I grew up on Ida Street in South Troy and lived there my entire life except for a few years when we moved to Griswold Heights. I graduated from Troy High School in 1979. There were seven kids in my family with a single parent who worked two jobs. I went to work when I was about eleven years old to help support my family. I worked 40 hours from 7th grade all the way through high school. I currently have three children, ages 13, 10 and 4. Michael, David and Maria respectively. How and when did you become interested in public service; what, if any, political offices have you previously held? I held no previous political offices. In Feb./March of 1995, I was continually reading about Troy and how downhill it was going , the way people started talking badly about it. I spent my entire life here and didn't like what I was hearing. I read that the democrats were looking for new candidates with no political office before. I started to look at and study issues and felt I could make a difference. I wanted to make a difference. I had volunteered for a lot of community service groups, Spring little league, Patroon club. I was president for the spring little league for two years and built a second field and put Spring Little League on the map. I was also General Chairman for the Patroon Club. I felt I was always a hard worker and am more of a grass roots type of person. I like to do things that don't cost the taxpayer a lot of money. To earn it the hard way means a lot more. So, I went to the Democratic party. I was always a registered Democrat. I felt that I was always a Democrat because I care about the social issues, the poor, the programs that we have for the people that can't afford it. I came from a low income family. The typical image of a Republican took care of the rich and inflicted pain on the poor. It is not currently my image of them . What do you believe is your most important accomplishment last year as council person for District 5. Personally, #1 neighborhood meetings, #2 neighborhood drug watch #3 drug march #4 holding the Mayor accountable. Having him detail everything. Being very skeptical and making him earn his money. How do you ascertain your constituents' wishes and utilize their input when it comes to voting, especially on pertinent issues? I have a network of people that I talk to frequently. These are regular people, not people involved in politics. These are people that are learning about Troy and Troys' government. Mike Rourke and Ceila Murray helped me with my campaign. They're not everyday political people. They're regular residents that worry about garbage pick-up and clean streets. I go around asking questions when tough issues come up. I ask them what their concerns are. I derive my vote by how people feel. There were 100 people that asked me to vote for no tax increase and only a few citizens that asked me to vote for it. I think the most important issue in Troy is quality of life issues. I think this is really important. People will pay what they owe but they want their garbage picked up and their streets cleaned. They want the thuggery and crime away from the fronts of their homes. People don't mind paying taxes if they get safe streets and clean streets in return. People are not asking that much for their tax dollar. What were your main objectives when you ran for office and have you achieved them? The three issues that people were concerned about were #1-crime and drugs, #2-financial problems, the layoffs etc., #3-Troy needed positive leadership. The people that were in office at the time including Dave Grandeau, were projecting a bad image of Troy. People did not want to hear it anymore. People who live here have fallen in love with Troy and they didn't want people to bad mouth Troy and put it down. The people wanted positive leadership. They would say that the workers were no good, that we were broke and that Troy was a bad place to live. I believe we have positive leadership now. I'm skeptical, I want to know what we're paying for. I feel Mark (Mayor) was very positive even with all the bangs from the Council & people. He would still welcome them and talk to them. Our colleagues on the Council have maintained a certain level of respect. They didn't put Troy down, they knew we were going to get out of the hole. Our minority, Carmella Mantello has positive ideas. For two years they chose not to accomplish what they could. What image you project from your leaders is what image the city will have. What general goals do you have for the year 1997? My main focus this year is to try to rid Troy of its thuggery, drug dealers and the crime that goes along with it. This is a big concern of mine. A year ago I felt that we didn't need a public safety commissioner but now I feel we do need a public safety commissioner. The reason is in this past year, drugs and crime have gotten worse in Troy but down every where else in the state. I felt we needed someone to carry the ball. The people of Troys biggest concern is public safety. I will stake my political career on this, I feel there will be a huge change in Troy. I feel that the Mayor and Commissioner Whitman will deliver. We planned a city wide drug march this year coming from six different areas for the children. Giving the kids some back bone to make sure they say no to drugs. Do you plan on running for Troy City Councilperson, District 5 again. If not, do you plan on running for another office? That plan right now is up in the air. I think we brought respect back to the City Council when each Councilperson is being held accountable. However, I believe the county leaders, the seven people elected by their constituents are not getting their bang for the buck from their leaders. I'm debating whether to enter that to get more out of our county for the City of Troy. I'm at the point where I believe I can do more for Troy by being on the county level than I can do being on the city level. However, I'm still going to do my neighborhood programs and still get involved in a lot of city functions. My heart will always be with the people if I decide to go that route. I want to meet more of the people in Troy, from Lansingburgh, Sycaway. I'll announce by April 1st my decision. Do you feel that the coverage of your private life and marital problems may have hurt your chances for re-election if you're seeking it? When you're in political office, people keep a close look at every single move you make. Many people can identify when you go through a marital problem. I don't think it will affect me. My main concern was my children through the marital strife. A lot of things got blown out of proportion. People get into personal problems. It's a he said, she said type of thing. I don't think it should affect this. If it does, it does. It happened to be bad timing. I got support from a lot of people. The support was not just for me but for my children. Through this whole thing, I always kept them as a first priority. It never affected me as a Council Person. Will you continue to align yourself with the Democratic Party? Do you feel you'll get their backing if you choose to run again? I will seek the Democratic line, because I'm a Democrat. I feel I've done enough good things for the city even though I'm skeptical and did not follow the party majority at times. I think the Democratic party will support me because I'm a hard worker. If things are good I'll go along. If they're not I'm not afraid to vote against them. Hopefully we have started a new era of good government. In cooperation with Troy United Ink Corp., a not-for-profit corporation 
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