Background
Seamus Donnelly’s professional background before government was eight years as a lead broker at Northeastern Insurance, where he managed roughly $3 million in accounts. Before insurance, he worked at Cojie Motors overseeing their digital and customer retention programs. He attended Hudson Valley Community College for political science and did not complete a degree. No public record documents prior experience in municipal government, public administration, finance, or real estate development.
His civic involvement before taking the role included serving on the Downtown Troy Business Improvement District board, participating in the Little Italy Quality of Life Committee, and helping organize events including South Troy National Night Out, Pride Night Out, and the Stonewall 50th Anniversary Sidewalk Art Project. He described his insurance work as preparation for public service: “People put their trust in me to protect their families and businesses from the unforeseen.”
Mantello named him to her transition team before taking office and installed him as Deputy Mayor on her first day in January 2024. At the same time, she appointed him Executive Director of the Troy Local Development Corporation (LDC), the quasi-public entity the city uses to issue bonds and manage development projects.
What the Role Requires
The Deputy Mayor serves as acting mayor in Mantello’s absence and is the administration’s lead on operational oversight across all city departments. The LDC Executive Director oversees bond issuance, lease negotiations, and financial agreements executed on behalf of the city. Together, the roles place Donnelly at the center of municipal finance and city governance.
The Gap
Donnelly brought insurance brokerage experience to roles that typically call for backgrounds in public administration, government finance, or municipal management. He was simultaneously placed on the committee that screened the Proctor’s Theatre city hall RFP and named executive director of the LDC that would fund it.
Council President Steele raised the structural problem directly: “At what point in time did the LDC become a financing mechanism that was offered to this proposal but not to any of the other proposals?”
The council’s Republican majority leader, Tom Casey, resigned from the LDC board over the overlap, saying: “I’m not gonna let anybody say anything bad about my ethics.” Mantello’s response: “These allegations are not only baseless — they are a clear attempt to manufacture controversy where none exists.”
Donnelly maintains no conflict exists because he is appointed, not elected.
Treatment of Staff
The record of how Donnelly conducts himself with city employees is documented in CSEA union testimony at the April 23, 2026 city council meeting.
During contract negotiations, the union reported that Donnelly spoke directly to city employees about their raises, bypassing the union. Under New York’s Taylor Law, this is direct dealing: an improper labor practice. Improper practice charges were filed against the city. Separately, the mayor attempted to pressure union president Bill Wangler to resign, an additional form of coercion that was folded into the same charges. The union testified that the only thing that finally compelled a response from the administration was the threat of expanding those charges: “only having that person’s eyes on the issue got a response from the corporation counsel.”
At the same meeting, Donnelly acknowledged he had been “partially listening in the back” during CSEA’s full testimony before stepping forward to respond to it.
Conduct at Public Meetings
The record of Donnelly’s conduct at council meetings is documented across multiple transcripts.
At the March 19, 2026 council meeting, a public commenter interrupted her own testimony to address what was happening in the hallway outside the chambers: “A young woman just cried and the deputy mayor… they’re just standing in the hallway” being “highly disrespectful.” A council member then addressed Donnelly directly: “Excuse me, Seamus. I’d like my time.” At the same meeting, Councilwoman Noreen’s question about whether the council could review Flock surveillance camera audits was “brushed off and deflected by the deputy mayor.” A second speaker noted the deputy mayor “seemed very confused by the idea of audits.”
At the April 23, 2026 meeting, Council President Steele confronted Donnelly’s characterization of a stakeholder meeting: “If you had been listening… you would have heard a slightly different tone from the board. You would have heard a very willing board.” Donnelly had represented the Knickerbocker board as unwilling when they were not.
At the January 8, 2026 council meeting, the first public forum of the year, neither Donnelly nor Mantello nor any representative from the mayor’s office was present. A council member put it on the record: “I think it’s shameful… I think that’s indicative of what the next two years of your term will be.”
Community
Before taking office, Donnelly organized Troy’s Pride Night Out and helped plan the Stonewall 50th Anniversary Sidewalk Art Project. He presented himself as a member of and advocate for the city’s LGBTQ community.
After Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, Donnelly posted on social media congratulating the president-elect. Trump’s administration has moved to roll back federal protections for LGBTQ people across housing, healthcare, education, and military service.
Collar City Pride, the organization that had run Troy’s annual Pride festival, found the administration’s response so inadequate that it relocated the event out of the city entirely. Founder Meagon Nolasco stated: “We feel so uncomfortable with the administration that we don’t want to support those events.”
Donnelly said he will not apologize. Mantello backed him publicly.
The community that Donnelly claimed as his own before taking power is now holding its celebration somewhere else because of him.
Family Network
Donnelly is the cousin of Sara McDermott, who Mantello later hired as Deputy Director of Operations at $80,000 per year for a position created specifically for her with no job description and no open application process. He is also cousin of Maria DeBonis, who served as City Clerk during Mantello’s first year. All three were placed in city roles through Mantello’s direction. All three spoke publicly in favor of the Proctor’s Theatre city hall relocation at the August 2025 public comment period: the same deal Donnelly was structuring through the LDC.
At the December 18, 2025 city council meeting, the administration’s updated non-represented employee policy was found to include the title “private secretary to the deputy mayor.”
Sources: WNYT, CBS6, CBS6 — LDC conflict, WAMC — city hall details, CBS6 — Pride festival, WAMC — Pride tensions; Troy City Council Confirmation Hearings, Finance and Special Meeting, January 18, 2024 (transcript); Troy City Council Law Committee and Finance Meeting, April 23, 2026 (transcript); Troy City Council Committee Night and Finance Meeting, March 19, 2026 (transcript); Troy City Council Regular Meeting, January 8, 2026 (transcript); Troy City Council Finance Meeting, December 18, 2025 (transcript)