The Troy City Council copied New York State’s definition of an emergency into the city charter. Carmella vetoed it. On September 17, the Council overrode her 6-0.
Local Law 4 replaces §C-40, the charter provision that let the Mayor declare an emergency without ever saying what one was. The new language comes from Article 2-B, Section 24 of the New York State Executive Law, the standard every mayor in the state already follows. Carmella called adopting state law a “shameless, ill-considered political maneuver to tie the hands of the executive in a way the City Charter never envisioned.”
Three vetoes. Three overrides. Zero votes to sustain.
Written by the State Legislature
“Currently the language is very vague about designating emergency declarations,” Council President Sue Steele said before the Council passed Local Law 4, 7-0, on September 3.
Under the old §C-40, the Mayor decided what counted as an emergency, and the Mayor declared it.
Councilmember Shikole Struber drafted the fix by copying state law into the charter. Local Law 4 defines a disaster, caps a declaration at 30 days, and gives the Council the power to end one. Fire, flood, storm, epidemic, terrorism, cyber attack, water contamination, bridge collapse: every real emergency is still on the list. A tabled contract is not.
Steele: “It is not taking away any power at all. It is making it clear for her, for us, for anyone who is reading the charter, when it’s appropriate to call an emergency.”
Carmella called it “nothing more than a political power play.” The words were written by the New York State Legislature.
After voting to override the veto, Struber: “I am feeling a sense of relief that our charter is finally in line with state law.”
What an Emergency Lets Her Do
When the Mayor declares an emergency, the normal rules stop. She can suspend procurement. She can spend money the Council never approved. She can pay a bill the City Auditor never signed.
That is what happened with Flock.
On March 19, the Council held a six-hour Finance Committee meeting on the Flock Safety contract. Forty-one residents spoke. None supported renewal. The Council tabled it 7-0, and the City Auditor paused payment. On April 1, Carmella declared a public safety emergency, suspended procurement, and renewed the contract herself. On April 15, she authorized the $78,000 payment without the Auditor’s sign-off.
Troy’s Council voted. Troy’s Auditor said no. One signature undid both.
The old charter put no end date on it. Steele, in June: “It’s open-ended with her.” Under Local Law 4, a declaration lasts 30 days, and the Council can end it sooner.
The Flock declaration was her tenth since taking office. The Council and the City Auditor sued to void it. That case is pending a ruling.
Local Law 4 puts a clock and a check on every emergency. That is what she vetoed.
There was no emergency in Troy on April 1. There was a vote she lost. Declaring the emergency was the abuse of power.
Veto, Override, Repeat
Carmella vetoed Local Law 4 twice. The first time, she vetoed the public’s right to speak on it.
Because Local Law 4 amends the charter, state law requires three public hearings before a vote. In July, Carmella vetoed Resolution 72, the resolution that scheduled them. Alex Horton, the Mayor’s Communications Director, explained why: “We just feel it oversteps so far that we can’t support a public hearing on something that oversteps that far.”
The Council overrode that veto 7-0 on July 9. Steele from the floor: “To silence the public is not a good look.”
Troy held its hearings on July 23 and August 6. At the September 3 meeting, resident Frankie Reynolds called Local Law 4 “well crafted legislation that aligns Troy with New York State law and simultaneously solves the problem of administrative misuse of emergency declarations.”
The public spoke because the Council overrode her. Carmella vetoed the law anyway.
Add Good Cause Eviction, and the year looks like this:
- Good Cause Eviction: vetoed. Overridden 7-0 on April 9.
- Public hearings on Local Law 4: vetoed. Overridden 7-0 on July 9.
- Local Law 4: vetoed. Overridden 6-0 on September 17. Council Member Spain-McLaren was absent.
Twenty votes to override. Zero votes to sustain.
Carmella calls each one politics. The Council she faces was elected after the last one voted against even scheduling a public hearing on Good Cause Eviction. Every member who cast that vote lost their seat.
Troy’s charter now says what an emergency is.
Partisan angle: Carmella declared an emergency to overturn a vote she lost, then vetoed a copy of state law to keep that power. She tried to block the public hearings too. We spoke anyway, the Council overrode her every time, and Troy’s charter now says what an emergency is.
Sources: WAMC, September 6, 2026; WAMC, September 15, 2026; WAMC, September 18, 2026; Spectrum News, September 3, 2026; CBS6; Article 78 petition, *Troy City Council and City Auditor v. Mantello, Rensselaer County Supreme Court, Index No. EF2026-282983; Troy Record, July 11, 2026; prior Mantello Record entries: April 1, April 9, May 11, June 25, July 11*