Troy’s public records function is run by the city’s communications director, who received no formal training in Freedom of Information Law compliance before taking the job. His only preparation: one in-house walkthrough of a software portal. When residents appeal a denial, the appeal goes to the same attorney who approved the original denial.
That is the city’s system for public records. Two and a half years into the Mantello administration, it is not working.
Who Is Running FOIL
Alex Horton was hired as Director of Communications on January 14, 2025. He came directly from the congressional office of U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro, a Republican who lost his reelection bid in November 2024. Before that, Horton managed Molinaro ally Thomas Marcelle’s 2022 campaign for New York State Supreme Court.
Mantello gave him the records access function on top of the communications role. His formal title in FOIL matters: Records Access Officer.
At an April 23, 2026 Law Committee and Finance meeting, a council member asked Horton about his training.
“Have you ever received training in FOIL compliance?”
His answer: once. When he first came in, a staffer whose title he could not recall walked him through the GovQA portal. That was it.
Corporation Counsel Richard Morrissey, who was also present, confirmed he trained Horton on which exemptions apply to which requests. When a council member asked Morrissey the same question about his own training, he said: “I don’t recall.”
When residents appeal a denial, the appeal goes to Morrissey, the same attorney who oversaw the original response.
What Has Happened
The record of FOIL under this administration is not a bureaucratic failure. It is a pattern.
At the January 8, 2026 council meeting, a Troy resident testified that he had reached out to Horton about a public records matter. Horton gave him his email address. The resident sent two messages. Neither was answered. He filed a formal FOIL request. It came back with nothing.
“Either they lied to me,” the resident told the council, “or they have really bad records.”
At the May 21, 2025 council meeting, a resident testified that the Troy Police Department had categorically denied FOIL requests for Flock Safety surveillance camera data going back to 2023. He brought documentation and a written response from the New York State Committee on Open Government, the state body that exists to advise municipalities on FOIL compliance.
The committee, he reported, “could not explain” the denial. He described them as dumbfounded.
The administration later renewed the Flock contract through an emergency declaration in early 2026, bypassing city council. The contract is the subject of a May 2026 lawsuit.
The April 23, 2026 meeting also revealed a separate breakdown: the administration was not present when FOIL was called as the first agenda item. The council moved on to other business. Morrissey and Horton appeared later in the session.
The Deputy Mayor’s Explanation
Deputy Mayor Seamus Donnelly addressed the FOIL backlog at the April 23 meeting. His explanation was that the city’s records are in disarray.
“I first came into office,” Donnelly said, “I go into my actual physical office, there’s documents in piles and different things all over the place. I had reports that had Harry Tutunjian’s name on it to current ARPA reports.”
Harry Tutunjian left office in 2011.
A council member’s response: “To be fair, you made your own mess.”
Donnelly agreed: “Rick just for the record noted and then I went ahead and made my office a bigger mess than I probably found it.”
The administration has been in office since January 2024.
Partisan Angle
Mantello announced Horton’s hire with a statement that he brings “a strong commitment to transparent communication.” She gave the FOIL function to a political operative with no government records experience, placed appeals with the same attorney who handles denials, and her own deputy mayor admitted on the record that he added to the filing chaos he inherited. The words and the record do not match.
Sources: Troy City Council Law Committee and Finance Meeting, April 23, 2026 (transcript); Troy City Council Regular Meeting, January 8, 2026 (transcript); Troy City Council Committee Night and Finance Meeting, May 21, 2025 (transcript); Mayor Mantello Announces Hiring of City Communications Director, troyny.gov