Troy Charter Review Commission

Troy Charter Review Commission Makes Recommendations

 Voters Decide on Election Day 

September 01, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: John Salka, Deputy Director of Public Information, (518) 279-7131

TROY NY – Mayor Lou Rosamilia announced today that after an eight-month effort the Troy City Charter Commission has completed a set of sweeping recommendations to the city’s governing document that will go before voters in the November general election.

“The final recommendations made by the Charter Review Commission represents significant improvements to our city’s governing document, proposing necessary changes to ensure future effectiveness and efficiency” said Mayor Rosamilia. “I want to thank Commission Chairman Ian Silverman and the rest of the commission members for their service and I urge voters to support these changes during the election this fall.”

“The Charter that the Commission is putting before the voters this November is the product of eight months of hard work from a diverse non-partisan group of citizens.  I am proud to be a part of this group and of the final Charter that we have produced,” said Charter Commission chairman Ian Silverman. “I believe the new Charter provides a more concise and efficient guiding document for our City’s governance. I encourage everyone to go to troyny.gov to read the document and the executive summary for themselves and to vote yes on the new City Charter November 3.”

Among its numerous provisions, the new charter, the first such major overhaul in decades, would:

• Reduce the size of the City Council from 9 to 7

• Provide for the first time the direct election of the Council president

• Merge several departments into a Department of General Services to improve efficiency of services, personnel management and fiscal oversight

• Provide for creation of an independent, bipartisan Redistricting Commission to avoid gerrymandering of election districts

• Add or upgrade minimum qualifications for certain professional positions

• Eliminate large amounts of outdated or redundant material

The Commission is a nine-member, nonpartisan panel of Troy residents working without financial compensation. Five members were selected by Mayor Rosamilia and four members were selected by members of the City Council. All of its working sessions have been open to the public. The commission is chaired by Ian Silverman, the city’s corporation counsel. Other members are vice chairman Kevin Glasheen, William M. Dowd, Jill Nagy, Patrick Morphy, Flora Carr, Pat Madden, Kevin Vandenbergh, and Council member Kenneth Zalewski.

The General Election is scheduled for Tuesday, November 3, 2015.

The full text of the proposed Charter and an accompanying executive summary are available on TroyNY.gov, the city’s official website.

Proposed Charter for the City of Troy, NY - 2015

Troy City Charter Commission Executive Summary 2015