City of Troy Democratic Committee

10/07/2026

Here's what your City Council got done on Oct. 1 👇

🎖️ Disabled veterans get a property tax break. The council passed it 6-0. Council President Sue Steele and Council Member Jona Favreau sponsored it.

📷 The council adopted Local Law 3, Troy's first written rules for license plate reader cameras, including limits on how long data is kept. "It's not perfect. It's a start," said sponsor Noreen McKee, who promised the council will keep watching how it works.

📖 Council Members Shikole Struber and Jona Favreau abstained on two money items from the administration. Struber said they reached council members "mere hours ago," too late to read.

🌊 Council Member Kathleen Spain-McLaren read a county email saying Troy was one of the few holdouts on a disaster plan that state and federal mitigation funding depends on. It passed 6-0.

Full summary 👉 troynydems.com/meeting-2026-10-01.html

10/01/2026

Want to help run Election Day in Troy? Rensselaer County is training poll workers for the November 3 General Election.

🗳️ Election Inspector Training
📅 Saturday, October 24 at 10:00 AM (about 2½ hours)
📍 Rensselaer County Board of Elections, 116 Pinewoods Ave., Troy (Conference Room)

Every Election Inspector has to attend at least one training class a year. Anyone who already trained this spring for the June Primary is covered for 2026.

Each class holds 50 people, and the Board of Elections can't reschedule anyone who misses their session, so register early. New inspectors are welcome.

Questions? Call the Board of Elections at 518-270-2990.

🔗 Registration link is in the first comment.

09/30/2026

Troy City Council Votes Thursday on New Limits for License Plate Cameras

The Troy City Council votes Thursday, October 1, on Local Law 3, the city's first set of standards for automatic license plate reader (ALPR) systems like Flock Safety's cameras. Sponsored by Council Member McKee, the law limits ALPR use to specific investigative purposes, caps data retention at 72 hours except under documented exceptions, requires annual public transparency reports and a three-year audit log of data access, and creates a civil right of action for residents harmed by violations. The vote comes amid the ongoing dispute over the city's Flock camera contract.

The Council holds three sessions that day: a Finance Meeting at 6:30 p.m., a Public Hearing at 6:45 p.m., and a Regular Meeting at 7:00 p.m., where Local Law 3 comes up for a vote. All three are held in Council Chambers, Troy City Hall, 433 River Street, Fifth Floor.

The Finance Meeting and Public Hearing both address Local Law 5, creating a property tax exemption for permanently and totally disabled veterans, sponsored by Council President Steele and Council Member Favreau.

Other Finance Meeting items:

Resolution 93: Adopting the 2025 Rensselaer County Hazard Mitigation Plan.
Resolution 94: Appointing Jevon L. Garrett, Esq. to the City of Troy Ethics Commission.
Resolution 95: Accepting a $60,000 state grant to fund a cybersecurity assessment of the city's water treatment plant.

Other Regular Meeting items:

Ordinance 45: Declaring surplus city property, including retired vehicles and office equipment, for auction.

All three meetings are open to the public and livestreamed on the Troy City Council YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/

Troy Democratic Committee

Edit: Res 87 per Sue Steele's comment

Welcome to the channel for the City Council of the City of Troy, NY. Council meetings will be live-streamed here. * You can learn about upcoming Council meetings as they are scheduled and get proposed legislation delivered to your mailbox by signing up for the City Clerk's Public Notices email list:...

09/15/2026

Troy City Council Meets Thursday, September 17

The City Council's Planning Committee meets at 5:30 p.m., followed by the Finance Committee at 6:00 p.m. Both meetings will be held in Council Chambers, Troy City Hall, 433 River Street, Fifth Floor.

The Planning Committee will discuss the Planning Department's organizational structure and code administration.

The Finance Committee agenda includes:

Local Law 5: Introduction of a local law creating a property tax exemption for permanently and totally disabled veterans, sponsored by Council President Steele and Council Member Favreau.
Resolution 87: A resolution naming the portion of Tenth Street between Oakwood Avenue and Hoosick Street "Bishop Dr. Norman R. Macklin Way," in recognition of his service to the Troy community.
Ordinance 45: A vote to declare surplus city property, including retired vehicles and office equipment, for auction.
Resolution 92: A resolution scheduling a public hearing on Local Law 5, the veterans' tax exemption.
Both meetings are open to the public and livestreamed on the Troy City Council YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/.

Troy Democratic Committee

07/31/2026

Troy's mayor was wrong to use her emergency powers to renew license plate reader contracts without City Council approval. The council is right to refine the law.

06/23/2026

Go out and vote! Call a friend! Today, we vote on the Comptroller nominee for the General Election!

05/15/2026

A record number of Troy residents showed up at City Hall in March to say 'no' to Flock Safety cameras. The City Council listened. They voted to pause the contract renewal and give this decision the scrutiny it deserved.

Mayor Mantello's response? She unilaterally declared a 'public safety emergency' on April 1st to push through a $78,000 payment to Flock without Council approval.

The Council has now filed suit in Rensselaer County Supreme Court to have that emergency order thrown out and the contract invalidated. A policy disagreement does not dictate a 'public safety emergency'.

Troy already has more than two dozen Flock license plate readers on its streets, and residents have real questions about privacy, storage, and who these cameras are watching.

The Council is standing with those residents.
We'll keep you updated as this moves forward.

Read More:

The City Council announced it filed a lawsuit to block a state of emergency announced by the mayor to keep the Flock camera system operating.

03/23/2026

A great review of the Technical shortcomings of Flock.

I Can See You… Flock Deep Dive By Shikole Struber | 03/22/2026 | Blog | No Comments When Flock hit the agenda last week, I sped up my deep dive. As a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) in my day job and virtual CISO for clients in a variety of industries, I perform the vendor reviews for an...

02/19/2026

Please join the City of Troy Democratic Committee as we try to stump historian and 43rd Senate Candidate Devin Lander!

12/23/2025

Happy Holidays from us at the Troy Democratic Committee.