Twenty-two people showed up to speak at the new council’s first public forum on January 8, 2026. Mantello was not there. Neither was anyone from her administration. Speakers noticed.
Sean Collins of the Troy Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO, said it plainly from the podium: “The mayor’s absence at the new council’s first public meeting is indicative of what the next two years of your term will be.”
Council President Steele acknowledged the absence in her closing remarks.
Source: Troy City Council Jan. 8, 2026 meeting transcript (City Clerk’s office; no formal minutes filed)