The Mantello Record

Mayor Carmella Mantello (R), City of Troy, NY Term began: January 2024 Compiled by The Mantello Record Last updated: June 2026

Overview

Carmella Mantello won the Troy mayor’s race in November 2023 by roughly 15 points, ousting Democrat Nina Nichols and becoming the first woman and first Republican to run city hall in more than a decade. Her campaign mantra: “People over politics, ideas over ideology, competence over cronyism.” (WAMC, Feb. 14, 2023)

Two and a half years in, her own city council has sued her in Rensselaer County Supreme Court. She has cycled through three comptrollers, gone 18 months without filing a legally required financial report, and declared a public safety emergency on April Fools’ Day to pay a surveillance contract her council had blocked. She vetoed the housing protection law that voters made the defining issue of the 2025 election, then lost the override 7-0.

Below is the record, most recent first.

2026

May 11, 2026 – City Council Files Lawsuit Against Mantello Over Flock Emergency

Troy’s City Council and City Auditor took Mantello to Rensselaer County Supreme Court in May, asking a judge to declare her April 1 emergency order unlawful, nullify it, and throw out the Flock Safety contract renewal. The legal complaint is direct: Mantello used emergency powers to authorize a $78,000 payment without council or auditor approval, cutting them out of the process entirely.

Council President Steele said the declaration “overstepped legislative authority.”

Sources: News10, CBS6, Spectrum News

April 9, 2026 – Good Cause Eviction Veto Overridden 7-0

When Mantello vetoed Good Cause Eviction in March, the vote was 7-0 against her. When the council overrode her in April, it was 7-0 again. Every Republican-aligned council member who had voted against Good Cause was gone, replaced in November 2025 by Democrats who had campaigned on it. The new council wasted little time.

Sources: Spectrum News, WAMC, News10

April 1, 2026 – Emergency Declaration to Pay Flock Camera Contract

On April Fools’ Day, Mantello declared a public safety emergency over license plate reader cameras. The council had let the Flock Safety contract renewal deadline pass while debating privacy protections. Mantello argued the contract had renewed automatically anyway, then declared an emergency to authorize a $78,000 payment without going back to the council or the city auditor.

She called the council’s proposed data regulations “dangerous, misguided and a gift to criminals.” The council eventually reached a compromise requiring annual audits and limits on data sharing with other agencies. By then, Mantello had already gone to court.

Partisan angle: She pulled the emergency trigger precisely when the council was drafting legislation to put guardrails on the technology.

Sources: WAMC, Spectrum News, WAMC compromise

March 18, 2026 – Mantello Vetoes Good Cause Eviction

The council had passed Good Cause Eviction 7-0. Mantello vetoed it anyway, citing concerns about small landlords and calling for a third-party study before any action. Council members weren’t buying the delay. Good Cause was the reason most of them were sitting in those seats. Voters had already cleared out every council member who had voted against it the November before.

Partisan angle: Good Cause Eviction flipped the Troy City Council to a Democratic supermajority. Mantello’s veto was a direct attempt to block the mandate voters had delivered six months earlier.

Sources: CBS6, Spectrum News

March 2026 – ICE Cooperation: Council Acts, Mantello Stays Silent

When the new council passed a resolution saying Troy would not cooperate with ICE enforcement, Mantello declined to take a position. Her statement: the resolution “does not change or impact any city code, local law, or operational policy. It is solely a statement of the Council’s political views.” She neither signed it nor vetoed it.

Across the river, Republican Sheriff Patrick Russo’s office reaffirmed its 287(g) agreement with ICE, keeping Rensselaer County the only county in New York State running such a program. Mantello said nothing about that either. Residents had already reported ICE vehicles in Troy on New Year’s Day 2026.

Partisan angle: Dismissing the council’s resolution as purely political while staying silent on the county’s active federal cooperation agreement put Mantello in step with the county Republican machine.

Sources: CBS6 on council vote, WAMC

January 8, 2026 – Absent from New Council’s First Public Meeting

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)

2025

December 17, 2025 – Proctor’s Theater Seat Removal Contradicts Preservation Claims

Photos hit social media showing every orchestra-level seat pulled out of the former Proctor’s Theater, the building Mantello was converting into city hall. The images landed awkwardly against earlier administration assurances about preserving the theater’s historic character. A city communications director said the seats would go back in and floated an “adopt a seat” program.

What no one disputed: the project carries no legal obligation to preserve anything, because it does not use historic preservation tax credits.

Source: WAMC

December 17, 2025 – Mantello Calls Knickerbacker Park Board “Reckless” After 5-Month Non-Response

The Knickerbacker Park Board sent the city a proposed updated lease in July 2025 and heard nothing back for nearly five months. When they finally hired legal counsel and set a meeting to sort it out, Mantello went public, accusing them of acting in “bad faith,” calling their conduct “reckless,” and claiming they tried to “strong-arm” city officials.

The board’s account: the mayor ignored them for five months, so they got a lawyer, and then she blamed them for it.

Sources: WAMC, CBS6

December 30, 2025 – $6 Million Frear Park Bond Pushed Through Outgoing Republican Council

The outgoing Republican council’s last day in office was December 30, 2025. Before they left, the administration got them to authorize a $6 million bond for a Frear Park pavilion, with no site plan, no community engagement, no construction documents, and a disputed environmental review that a resident would later testify may have violated state law.

Jessica Bennett told the new council she called the city clerk at 3 PM that day and was told no project plans were on file. State law requires SEQR documents to be available 24 hours before a vote. When the new Democratic council tried to rescind the bond, they spent weeks being stonewalled from accessing bond counsel. Council President Steele eventually pulled the rescission, noting that misrepresentations had been made during the rush to get it done.

Sources: Dec. 30, 2025 and Jan. 8, 22, 2026 meeting transcripts (City Clerk’s office); clerk’s minutes IDs 1760, 1761

November 7, 2025 – City Hall Move to Proctor’s Approved on 4-3 Party-Line Vote

Four to three, straight down party lines. The Republican-majority council approved the Proctor’s Theater lease on November 7, 2025, two months before the new Democratic supermajority would take office. Council President Steele argued the incoming council should make that call. She was outvoted. The Troy Local Development Corporation approved up to $12.5 million in tax-exempt bonds for the project, with the city paying $675,000 a year to the LDC for 30 years.

Partisan angle: The vote happened when it did for a reason. The administration wanted the city hall move locked in before January 2026.

Sources: Spectrum News, CBS6

October 2025 – Proctor’s Foundation Sues Over Inadequate Environmental Review

The Troy Proctor’s Foundation, along with John Delconte and J. Brant Caird, sued to block the city hall project, arguing the LDC approval was improper and that the city had not adequately assessed the risk of permanent damage to historic features inside the theater. They asked a judge to throw out the approval and require a full Environmental Impact Statement.

Mantello’s response: “Filings like this are emblematic of why Troy hasn’t had a real city hall in 15 years.”

Source: CBS6

Summer–Fall 2025 – NYSERDA Clean Energy Grants Blocked by Administration Non-Response

Troy’s Joint Task Force on Sustainability and Climate Smart Practices had been trying for more than a year to get officially appointed by the Mantello administration. The response was silence. In the meantime, the task force had accumulated enough qualifying points for $837,000 in match-free NYSERDA clean energy grants and was also in line for a DEC Climate Smart Communities bronze certification and an EV charging grant worth up to $500,000. None of it moved without administration sign-off.

At the January 8, 2026 public forum, task force acting chair Daniel Morisy told the new council the city had also abandoned a municipal solar farm and eliminated the street tree committee.

Source: Troy City Council Jan. 8, 2026 meeting transcript (City Clerk’s office)

July 2025 – First Quarterly Financial Report in 18 Months

State law requires quarterly financial reports. In June 2025, the Troy City Council got one for the first time in 18 months. The report covered Q1 2025. The gap ran from early 2024 through mid-2025, during which the city spent more than $260,000 on outside accounting firms to keep the books.

The report itself was not reassuring. By the end of the first quarter, the city had already burned through more than 40% of its annual staff overtime budget.

Sources: WAMC, WAMC May 2024

June–July 2025 – City Hall Lease Dispute: $226K Unpaid, Termination Deadline Missed

Moving city hall to Proctor’s created two immediate problems at the old location. The city owed its current landlord, First Columbia, $226,807 in Common Area Maintenance fees from 2024. Mantello disputed the CAM math but acknowledged the bill was unpaid. More seriously, First Columbia’s attorneys argued the city had already missed the deadline to exercise its early-exit option, meaning Troy could be trapped in its River Street lease through January 2029, two years past the planned move date.

Sources: CBS6, News10, WAMC

May 2025 – Third Comptroller in 18 Months Hired

Michael McNeff was Troy’s third comptroller in roughly 18 months. Before him came Jack Krokos, hired in January 2025. Before Krokos came Dylan Spring, hired in February 2024 and gone by July. Before all of them came a vacancy: Mantello started her term in January 2024 without a comptroller at all, the first time that had happened in 40 years. The revolving door cost the city more than $260,000 in outside accounting fees.

Sources: WAMC, WAMC comptroller history

2024

December 30, 2024 – Last-Minute ARPA Funds Reallocation at Year-End Special Meeting

The federal deadline to obligate Troy’s $42 million in ARPA funds was December 31, 2024. On December 30, the administration called a special meeting to redirect roughly $5 million across Frear Park improvements, lead pipe replacement, and an ambulance. Council Democrats raised concerns about process and transparency. With one day left on the clock, there was little room for anything else.

Sources: Spectrum News, WAMC

October 10, 2024 – 2025 Budget Submitted Seven Minutes Before Deadline, With Errors

Mantello filed the 2025 budget seven minutes before the legal deadline. Corrected materials arrived almost an hour after it. Council President Steele, along with Council Members Vera and Spain-McLaren, said the timing “falls far short of the level of transparency that taxpayers deserve.” The Republican majority passed the budget anyway, 4-3 along party lines.

The city had no permanent comptroller from July 2024 through the entire budget season, leaning on outside firms that had already cost more than $260,000.

Sources: Spectrum News, WAMC budget defense, WAMC Republican passage

July 26, 2024 – Planning Commission Abolished, Replaced With Mayor-Appointed Board

Council President Steele called it a “power grab.” On July 26, 2024, the Republican council voted 4-3 to abolish Troy’s independent Planning Commission and replace it with a five-member Planning Board appointed entirely by the mayor. The old commission had seven members and operated independently. The new board has five members and answers only to Mantello.

Mantello said the commission moved too slowly. Critics said it was the only independent check on development decisions the city had.

Partisan angle: Strict party-line vote. The result was an unelected body with land use authority that reports solely to the mayor.

Sources: CBS6, WAMC, Spectrum News

July 25, 2024 – Expletive-Laced Audio Recording With Downtown Businessman

WAMC obtained a recording of Mantello in a profanity-laced argument with Anthony DeMeo, whose family runs Bob DeMeo’s Discount Wine and Liquor at 500 Campbell Avenue. DeMeo told the mayor that a city lead pipe, sidewalk, and curbing replacement project on Campbell had nearly put him out of business. His family had operated the store for 49 years. “We’re getting ready to close the doors,” he told her, “because it’s just not profitable at this point.” Mantello said the project was ahead of schedule and the city had done what it could.

Campbell Avenue closed to through traffic around June 10, 2024. Businesses were not told it would run two months. On July 25, six weeks into the closure, Mantello told DeMeo the project would finish in “potentially three weeks or less.” It did not. The street reopened August 9, nearly two months after it closed. Eleven businesses on the corridor absorbed the full duration without ever being given an accurate timeline.

The business survived. As of May 2026, Bob DeMeo’s is still operating.

Then, at the end of May 2026, the city went back. A DEC-mandated sewer rehabilitation project launched on Campbell Avenue between Sherman Avenue and Thomas Street, with through-traffic closures, temporary above-ground pipe systems blocking sidewalk access, and driveway restrictions for businesses in the work zone. Projected duration: three to four weeks. The city’s own announcement acknowledged that when the 2024 lead pipe work was done, the administration had not yet been informed by the DEC that this sewer project would also be required. The street came up twice because no one coordinated the two projects before the first one started.

Sources: WAMC, News10 – businesses fear closure, CBS6 – business struggling, troyny.gov – 2024 reopening, troyny.gov – 2026 sewer project, News10 – 2026 sewer closure

July 2024 – Comptroller Dylan Spring Resigns Under Pressure

Dylan Spring lasted five months. Hired in February 2024, he resigned in July under pressure from the city council to deliver overdue quarterly reports and close the books on 2023. State law required those reports. The administration had not filed them since before Mantello took office. His departure left the seat open for months, with outside accounting firms picking up the work at a cost that eventually topped $260,000.

Sources: WAMC, WAMC without comptroller

Summer 2024 – Sound Ordinance Enforcement Imposed Without Council Vote

In summer 2024, the mayor’s office started enforcing a 9 PM cutoff for outdoor music at downtown bars and restaurants, with no council vote. The administration called it an application of “existing guidelines,” but outdoor music had never been enforced under the existing code, and business owners said the 9 PM cutoff was a new restriction in everything but name.

Troy’s Nighthawks Block Party, a charity fundraiser, was canceled in June 2024 after organizers cited disputes with the mayor’s office. Business owners reported that 11 to 13 percent of restaurant revenue and roughly half of bar income comes after 9 PM, hitting 180 to 237 downtown establishments. By the time speakers raised it at the January 8, 2026 public forum, the cutoff had been walked back to 10 PM, but musicians had already started heading to Albany. Gigi Sweets testified the mayor had done it all “without a council vote.”

Sources: CBS6 crackdown, NYSMusic, News10 confusion; Troy City Council Jan. 8, 2026 transcript

2024 (Ongoing) – Transparency and Information Failures

The pattern held across two years: residents and council members asked for information and did not get it.

Late or missing FOIL responses. Multiple residents and council members reported FOIL requests being denied or ignored by the city attorney.
Last-minute agenda postings. Speakers at the January 8, 2026 public forum described agendas posted hours before votes and materials reaching the council the same day as consequential decisions.
No redline versions of policy changes. The December 18, 2025 Finance Meeting revealed the administration had no redline version of a five-year update to the non-represented employee policy. Council members could not tell what had changed.
No response to community proposals. At the January 8, 2026 public forum, resident Drea Leanza described submitting a proposal to build owner-occupied homes on a city-owned South Troy lot, with TAP and Habitat for Humanity involved, nearly two years earlier with no response from the administration. Resident Natalie Jabau described a rezoning correction letter sent in October 2025 to the council and mayor, also with no response.

Source: Troy City Council Jan. 8, 2026 meeting transcript; Dec. 18, 2025 meeting transcript (City Clerk’s office)

Pattern Summary

Category	Count
Legal disputes / lawsuits	3 (Flock emergency, First Columbia lease, Proctor’s Foundation)
Unilateral executive actions contested by council	3 (sound ordinance, Flock emergency, Good Cause veto)
Party-line votes in administration’s favor	3+ (planning board, budget, city hall move)
Governance / financial failures	4 (comptroller turnover, overdue reports, missed CAM fees, budget deadline)
Blocked or ignored community priorities	3+ (NYSERDA grants, sustainability task force, Habitat proposal)
Actions against working residents and tenants	2 (Good Cause veto, ICE non-response)
Misleading or absent communication on project timelines	1+ (Campbell Ave: businesses told “three weeks or less” six weeks into a two-month closure; street later dug up again for a DEC sewer project that was never coordinated with the original work)

The Mantello Record Sources indexed above; council meeting transcripts and clerk’s minutes on file at the Troy City Clerk’s office.