Troy Record endorses Zalewski

Mon, Nov 5th 2007, 11:15
By: James V. Franco, The Record
11/03/2007
   
TROY - Ken Zalewski said he is running for the District 5 seat on the City Council because he is already doing the job, working with his neighbors to make the community a better place.
"I'm willing to do the work. I will be very involved. I will listen to concerns and I will help. That is what I think politics is about. Listening to people, gathering information and taking action. It is not rocket science," he told The Record Editorial Board.
He is heavily involved in the neighborhood groups and helped start Ineighbors, an online way for those in the neighborhood to both alert each other of potential problems and to stay in touch with each other.
While he volunteered on other campaigns he decided to make the jump into the political arena as a candidate because, in part, of what has been called "Tonygate" - allegations that Republicans used county employees and City Hall facilities to make disparaging phone calls to malign a political opponent.
"In my opinion, City Hall can't be used to engage in that type of behavior. City Hall can't be used for political gain," he said. "I'm running on a platform of integrity."
He said the issues in this year's campaign are crime and taxes. Democrats point to statistics that say crime is up 25 percent. The GOP counters that it is down 16 percent.
"I don't know what statistic to believe but when I am talking to people, they are saying the city is not what it used to be," he said. "They are afraid to come out of their house."
To fix that, he said, he would put more foot patrols on the streets and target high crime areas.
To the controversial mandate that requires police officers to live in the city, he would enforce the law. To the merits, he would offer incentives for police officers to live in the city but not require them to do so.
To get taxes under control, he said he would expand the tax base and work to get more businesses to move into Troy. He would also cater to the 6,000-strong student body at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
As far as the city getting more out of having the institution within its boundaries, he said he would not necessarily ask them to contribute more money but would try to get in-kind services such as using its engineering expertise to find a fix for Proctor's or getting it more involved in the community.
"It is hard to squeeze money out of RPI, but we can use the students in other ways. It could be a valuable asset to the city," said the RPI graduate.
He is running on the Democratic Party line.