Slavick backed
Favorite for Albany County comptroller


ALBANY COUNTY — County Democrats said "yes" to Guilderland’s Patricia Slavick for comptroller in 2007.

Democrats endorsed Slavick, a Guilderland councilwoman, in a rare unanimous decision during Wednesday night’s committee meeting, over incumbent Comptroller Michael Conners II, who bowed out of the contest.

He’ll take on Slavick in a primary.
"I am very privileged and honored to be here"and very humbled," Slavick told her fellow Democrats. "I wish to continue the good work I’ve done in Guilderland in a greater capacity"I am asking for your support."

The committee also endorsed Albany County Executive Michael Breslin in his bid for re-election and three candidates for county coroner.
A motion was made to nominate Conners for the endorsement, but Conners stopped the motion and asked to remove his name from a committee vote in an attempt to "gain redemption" and avoid a "messy floor vote."
Conners also said he did not want to see another "urban and suburban" power struggle.

Last fall, Albany County Democrats were divided over who should chair the party. Suburban members supported David Bosworth, also a Guilderland town board member, and Albany members supported Frank Commisso, the county legislature’s majority leader.

Commisso won, but the contested vote was challenged by Bosworth supporters because a weighted vote was not used and a state Supreme Court judge eventually invalidated Commisso’s election.

The committee then decided on a co-chairmanship by Bosworth and Commisso.
"This battle of cities and towns should never have happened," Conners told The Enterprise after the meeting. He continued, saying he didn’t want to see committee members "put on the spot" to choose either Slavick or himself.

Breslin also spoke of party unity after the committee endorsed him for re-election.
"We need to stay together as Democrats because when we do, we can do anything," Breslin said.

Two-hundred-and-sixty-nine of the over 600 committee members met at the Polish Community Center in Albany; an additional 141 proxy or absentee votes were handed in.

Albany County Democratic patriarch John J. McNulty made the resolution to endorse Slavick for comptroller.

The candidates

This is the second time the county party did not endorse Conners, who has been the county’s comptroller since 1995.

Four years ago, Democratic Albany County Legislator Allen Maikels stepped down from his position representing Guilderland to challenge Conners. County Democrats did not endorsee either Maikels or Conners for comptroller in that election, but Conners won the election with a solid lead.
"I’m not stranger to a primary," Conners told The Enterprise last night. "I understand that people were upset"with some unpopular political decisions"but you can’t have it both ways. I’m independent and I think for myself to get the job done."

One of those unpopular decisions among Democrats was when Conners ran in 2004 on the Republican ticket unsuccessfully against State Senator Neil Breslin, a Democrat.

Senator Breslin supports Slavick for comptroller and released an official endorsement for her campaign on her website: www.patriciaslavick2007.com.
"For years, the Albany County Comptroller’s office has lacked leadership"Mike Conners is inconsistent and unfocused," Breslin said in the announcement. "The time for change is now. Democrat Patricia Slavick offers our community a new opportunity."

Conners, who is also a member of the Menands Fire Company, is seeking his fourth four-year term as comptroller, which pays nearly $98,300 a year.

He is holding a kick-off fund-raiser and rally on the evening of May 31 at the North Albany American Legion Post.

Slavick was elected to Guilderland’s town board in 2000 and chose politics over the private sector in 2005. When running for re-election that year, Slavick quit her job with the state’s Office of Mental Health after she was told she was being paid with federal funds and therefore violated the Hatch Act.

The Hatch Act is a law that prohibits federal and certain state workers from running for an elected office.
She said then that the decision was hard, but "decided I like the town board and serving the residents of Guilderland"I’m here to serve the town."

Now, Slavick says, she’s ready to serve the county.
"I’ve been thinking about running for a while now, and I came forward about three weeks ago," Slavick told The Enterprise after last night’s meeting. "It’s been a great privilege and an honor to serve my town for the last seven years"now with the support from our party, I’m ready serve all of Albany County."

Slavick is not up for re-election to her Guilderland town board seat until 2009.

Currently, she is a business analysis supervisor in the Future of Central Accounting System Project at the state comptroller’s office, and, as a certified public accountant, she worked for General Electric for 27 years.

Along with the county Democrats’ official endorsement, Slavick has also garnered the support of the Democratic chairs in the towns of Bethlehem, New Scotland, and Coeymans, as well as the town of Guilderland’s first-vice chair, and Green Island’s Democratic chair.

She is also being supported by many of the local elected officials.

Conners said he is confident in his re-election bid despite Slavick’s endorsements.
"The object of an election is to win on the day of the election," Conners said. "I’m going to win the primary, that I am confident of."
Conners said he didn’t want to pressure rank-and-file members into making the choice at the meeting, and that he’s not "going to put the men and women who work for me at risk," by asking them to make official endorsements before a primary.
In the end, Conners said, "I’m going to win this thing."