Richard Brodsky in his Aug. 26 commentary, "Fiscal crisis for Albany's mayor," described a number of Albany's fiscal challenges. He also stated that the "silence is deafening" from the Albany mayoral candidates.
Actually, there have been many energetic discussions about the very issues he mentioned. In the five open forums that I held at our public libraries and in the seven mayoral forums held to date (with more scheduled), I candidly discussed Albany's fiscal situation, what I have done as Albany's treasurer to address the crisis, and what I propose to do as mayor to move our city to fiscal sustainability.
As treasurer, I introduced common sense to Albany's borrowing practices by ensuring the bonds for the landfill expansion will be paid off when the landfill closes. I also refinanced outstanding debt, resulting in a nearly $2 million reduction in debt service.
As mayor, I will implement goals-based budgeting and adopt a rolling three-year budget. I have also committed to streamlining our operations by embracing technology that will allow us to better manage our work force and our city.
One in four Albany residents lives at or below the poverty level while 79 percent of our commercial property is tax-exempt. Meanwhile, we must provide services to and support an infrastructure for the nearly 70,000 people who commute here to work. This is an untenable situation that has gone on far too long at Albany taxpayers' expense.
As the former vice president of a manufacturing company, I know this is not a sustainable business model. We have significant challenges to create a city government our residents can afford, and I have been far from silent on how I will address those challenges.
Kathy Sheehan
Albany city treasurer