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Alderman and Their Wards; Council Members and Their Districts by Mike Esposito Rutherford Hayner, for many years a member of the editorial staff of the Troy Times, and the author of a three volume set, Troy and Rensselaer County, New York: A History, describes the formation of city wards in his comprehensive history of the city. "The city was divided into six wards by the act of April 12, 1816. By the act of the Legislature April 22, 1837, the original Fourth Ward was divided into two wards; that part north of Jacob Street becoming the Seventh Ward and those sections of the First and Sixth Wards between the lines of Liberty Street and Canal Avenue were made the Eighth Ward." "On April 17, 1851, the Legislature provided for the establishment of the Ninth Ward from a part of the Sixth Ward. Under the same act that part of the Seventh Ward lying north of Hoosick Street became the Tenth Ward." "Again on April 29, 1870, the Legislature made a further division of the older wards, increasing the number to thirteen. The Eleventh Ward was formed from part of the Eighth Ward south of Adams Street to the middle of the Poestenkill. That Part of the Ninth Ward lying south of Jackson and Trenton Streets became the Twelfth Ward and the section of the Tenth Ward north of Middleburgh Street became the Thirteenth Ward." "By the enactment of the Legislature in 1900 which went into effect January 1, 1901 that part of the Fifth Ward north of the Poestenkill became the Fourteenth Ward, while the old village of Lansingburgh, added to the city, was divided into three wards and numbered the Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth." The Eighteenth Ward was established by Local Law no. 3 in 1948 and divided the Fourteenth Ward into two wards and creating the Eighteenth. From 1816 to 1847 there was an office of assistant alderman which was abolished on January 28, 1848. From 1855 to 1899 each ward was represented by two aldermen. During the middle years of the 19th Century, one alderman from each ward was elected for two years; the other representing the ward was elected for a one year term. In March 1939, the Common Council provided for a four year term for members to be effective in January 1940. In 1959 a new City Charter was written in preparation for the Council-Manager form of government. A redistricting plan created seven council districts which absorbed dozens of election districts within the city's eighteen wards. With the election of 1963, the eighteen member Board of Alderman was replaced with a seven member City Council. The direct election of members of the council from the newly formed seven districts lasted through 1971. During the 1969 election, Proposition One, proposing a council of seven at-large members to be elected in the 1971 general election, was accepted by the voters. The three candidates with the most votes would have four year terms, the remaining four would serve two terms. The seven member at-large council lasted through 1983. A 1982 local law provided that "not later than January 1, 1983, the city council shall draw six council districts each having between 13-18% of the population of the city. In the 1983 general election, one person was elected from each of the newly formed six council districts. The three largest vote-getters in the previous election (1981) had two years left of their four year term, bringing the total council membership to nine. The city council still remains a nine person legislative body, In the 1994 election, Proposition One, limiting the term of office of city Council members to four consecutive terms was approved by the voters. The first elected aldermen in the new city in 1816 were George Allen, Hugh Peebles, Townsend McCoun, Stephen Ross, Lemuel Hawley, and Philip Hart, Jr. Several members of the Board of Aldermen served twenty years or more, including John J. Casey and Fred C. Casey who represented the Eleventh Ward, (each serving over twenty six years) from 1890 to 1944. The first woman on the Board was Mrs. Mary Kennedy, appointed in January, 1918 by Mayor Cornelius Burns, to serve the two year term for her husband, Patrick J. Kennedy, who died less then three weeks after being elected as the first Democrat on the Board to represent the Fifth Ward. According to a 1918 Troy Times article, Mrs. Kennedy was the first woman in any city in the State to serve on a Common Council. In 1943, Agnes R. Powers, successful candidate from the Twelfth Ward, was the first woman elected to the Board of Aldermen. She lost her re-election bid four years later by a single vote to Timothy O'Connor (781-780). Throughout the history of the Board there have been other elections won by only a few votes, several where the outcome awaited the counting of absentee ballots and at least two, in 1837 and 1959 where the candidates received the same number of votes and a special election had to be held. Norma Fatone was elected in 1975 as Troy's first councilwoman. Louis Anthony served longest on the City Council from 1972 through 1993, (twenty two years). William "Toby" Lyons, was elected to represent the Fourth Council District in 1987 when he was eighty seven and was re-elected in 1989 and 1991. The 1993 general election resulted in a legislative body consisting of five women. Cathy Conroy was re-elected to represent the First District; also elected that year were Marion Hernberg, Second District; Carmella Mantello, Third District: and Nina Pattison and Arlene Cahill, at-large representatives. How will the outcome of the 1997 City Council election be noted in the history books? Maybe as the election where the greatest number of registered voters in the city come out to exercise their right to vote. Troy City Directories (available from 1829 to present) and Troy City Documents, two important components of the TROY COLLECTION at the Troy Public Library, and the Library's copy of Troy newspapers on microfilm were used in preparing this article. In cooperation with Troy United Ink Corp., a not-for-profit corporation 
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