PLATTSBURGH — Incumbent Ward 3 Democratic Councilor Elizabeth Gibbs called outgoing City of Plattsburgh Mayor Chris Rosenquest’s bid for her seat this June “disingenuous.”
“I know, from working three-plus years with Mr. Rosenquest, that he is very self-serving,” Gibbs said.
DISAGREEMENTS
Since Rosenquest first took office in 2021, he and Gibbs have been no stranger to disagreements, publicly differing on major city issues such as the late 2022 decision to demolish the Crete Memorial Civic Center and the failed hotel development agreement in September of 2023, which could have brought a hotel to the city’s harborside.
Additionally, in December of 2023, Gibbs did not support the mayor’s appointment of Peter Mitchell as city police chief. Most recently, Gibbs critiqued the mayor’s timing and handling of the reapportionment of the city’s ward districts.
At times, these public disagreements carried over into private disagreements.
“I even had a finger in my face in September of 2021, yelling at me and swearing at me on the steps of City Hall,” Gibbs said, referring to a previous incident with Rosenquest after she had requested certain documents that were necessary for budget preparation.
‘ISN’T PERSONAL’
Still, despite their quarrels, Gibbs said it isn’t “personal” between them and is not a “me vs. Chris” situation like it has sometimes been made out to be.
“This is business. I am an elected official who’s supposed to be pushing for accountability, common sense, transparency, collaboration: those are the things that are important to me and they always have been,” Gibbs said.
“I hope the public isn’t expecting that I’m going to just reverse course on those things. That is what good government should be … Imagine what our city government would look like, if that’s what was going on with every one of our elected people on that board — from the mayor all the way down to all the wards — think of all the things we could accomplish then.”
PRIMARY
Now, with candidate petitions officially finalized, the two Democrats are poised to face off against each other in the primary election June 25.
Rosenquest, who announced in February he would not be seeking a second term as mayor so he could spend more time with his family, has opted to instead run for the Ward 3 seat that Gibbs has held since 2019.
Gibbs, who has the endorsement of the Plattsburgh City Democrats for the seat and is looking to secure her third term, alleged Rosenquest is “trying to keep himself relevant” by running in the Ward 3 race so he could help steer and then apply for the potential city manager position — if one is eventually implemented in the future.
Rosenquest, who has only publicly advocated for the city to consider a city manager position, did not directly address Gibbs’ assessments of his intentions for running.
However, Rosenquest did say that “What I’ve come to know in both my public and private life is when people cannot lean on their own merits and life work, they punch down, insult, and attack others.”
“Unfortunately, this seems to be the case here and it doesn’t serve the city or our community in the slightest,” he continued.
“Especially coming from a local elected official.”
CITY MANAGER
Since late December of last year when a commission of five people was formed by the mayor, the city has been looking into whether or not they should implement a city manager form of a government instead of a strong mayor type.
As previously reported by the Press-Republican then, the city manager would provide policy advice, direct the daily operations of city government, handle personnel functions, and is responsible for preparing the budget.
Under the Council-Manager statutes, the City Council is prohibited from interfering with the manager’s administration. The city manager, however, is directly accountable to and can be removed by a majority vote of the council at any time.
In discussing his decision to not run for re-election as mayor, Rosenquest said in February that implementing a city manager was something the city “needs.”
Now, in his announcement last week that he would be seeking the Ward 3 seat, Rosenquest outlined a number of issues he plans to campaign on and the city’s consideration of a city manager was one of them.
“For the many years of business experience I brought into this job, it’s clear to me our city should take a very serious look at installing a permanent professional to run this $67 million organization. It’s a rare occasion that we get a chance to elect a professional that has the business or public policy acumen necessary to ensure the smooth and expanded operations of our city,” Rosenquest said.
“For continuity, certainty, and reliability, we should at the very least consider the merits of installing a city manager — or at least measure the pros and cons of such a decision — and see if that necessitates a needed change to address the ongoing concerns for our city. I will continue to advocate and ask our community to consider the merits and to explore if this is a good option for the City of Plattsburgh.”
Other campaign priorities of his include addressing housing, economic growth, infrastructure improvements and continued quality of life improvements.
‘TALK IS CHEAP’
Gibbs drew criticism with Rosenquest releasing a list of priorities to begin with.
“Talk is cheap and what’s more important is not to look at what is being said, but let’s look at what is being done,” Gibbs said.
“Mr. Rosenquest has proven he is not a good mayor. Why would anyone believe that he would make a good city councilor?”
Rosenquest said his body of work in the community, and in the mayor’s office these last few years, speaks for itself.
“Everyone can see the work I’ve done in the short 10 years since I’ve come home,” he said, referring to his move back to Plattsburgh after living out west for some time.
“I can proudly point to all of the community work done both in and out of office. I’ll point to the relationships I’ve mended and new friends our city has earned over just the few years I’ve held the mayor’s seat. I’ll point to the major infrastructure and quality of life improvement projects we’ve been able to accomplish in my administration. In my life: actions, deeds, and results hold more value than bashing and tearing others down.”
Gibbs further said he is overestimating the power of a single councilor with his list of priorities.
She said it makes it seem as if he thinks he’s running for mayor again and not for a position that pays $10,000 a year and is considered part-time.
“As a mayor, you make those priorities because you have the ability to connect all the department heads with various agents, grant writers, and you make those things happen by setting them into motion. That’s what you do as mayor,” Gibbs said.
“No councilor is in a position to say, ‘oh, I’m going to make housing happen in the city; I’m going to make infrastructure happen in the city; I’m going to make a city manager happen in the city.’ Those things are not going to come from a councilor seat. They come from the top down and they are collaborative efforts. He’s purposely misleading the public about what he would be able to do or not do.”
PRIORITIES
Instead, Gibbs said her own “priorities,” should she get elected again, would be more attainable for the role of a councilor, such as pushing for a more livable community for residents.
Gibbs said this would include doing something to alleviate the drug issues in the city, especially.
She said she would like to see a collaboration between the city’s Fire and Police Department and local (Clinton County) Health Department to address it and possibly implement an opioid strategy plan.
Gibbs said she has made this suggestion before and didn’t receive a response back.
“I cannot get any traction,” she said of her efforts.
Making the community affordable is also at the top of Gibbs’ list. She said the tax levy is too high and needs to come down.
Housing is an area of concern for her, too, and she reiterated her support of Prime’s proposed housing development for the Durkee Street parking lot, which remains tied up in litigation.
However, she said housing, and the unique challenges the city is facing in relation to it, is not an issue a single councilor takes on and solves alone like Rosenquest implied.
“Those are big initiatives that I would like to see happen, but I can’t force anyone to do it,” she said, referring to the power of one councilor.
Improving collaboration, communication and transparency between the council and mayor’s office will also be crucial in her potential next term, she said.
RELATIONSHIP
With a potentially heated race now ahead of them, Gibbs doesn’t believe it will have any effect on their continued working relationship over the next couple of months.
She said their relationship is “strained” as it is and does not foresee it getting any worse.
“I’m not going to stop being the person I am,” she said. “I’m not going to stop being the councilor I am.”
“It’s going to be whatever it’s going to be. I will campaign and do the work and let the voters decide who they think should be in the seat in June.”