PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (WCAX) – New leadership is coming to Plattsburgh in a few weeks with Democrat Mayor-elect Wendell Hughes preparing to take the reins. On Friday outgoing Mayor Chris Rosenquest is presiding over his last Common Council meeting.
“Pretty happy about all of it, and happy how things turned out,” Rosenquest said of his last four years in office.
He says delivering a budget that’ll have a nearly $300,000 surplus for the city next year is a major achievement. “Certainly the parks, that has been critical, the fiscal well being of the city as we leave it — that’s pretty important. A lot of infrastructure, quality of life projects, the bike lanes, and complete streets,” Rosenquest said.
However, there were projects the mayor says were missed opportunities that would have attracted visitors and bolstered the economy. ”If we keep calling ourselves the Lake City, then we should be investing in our lake,” he said.
Under his term, Rosenquest also dealt with constant leadership changes at the police department, with former Police Chief Peter Mitchell retiring back in September. At the time, Rosenquest promised to put in place three new lieutenants to help in the absence of a chief, which he says he won’t be doing. “Unfortunately, if the council is going to be fickle and not support the operation and what is needed in the operation based on what the experts are saying, then yeah, it is a really hard position as a CEO, as an executive, to say we are going to put this person in this position knowing they are going to be terminated. It just is not fair to that person,” he said.
The mayor’s handling of the department is one of many contentious issues he’s had with some members on the council. As he exits politics, he says the city needs a new vision. “We need a more progressive voice, a more progressive party or a more progressive platform in the city of Plattsburgh that, you know, a lot of our younger people have been demanding. A lot of the people who have been coming in from other places — they understand there is opportunity here that is untapped,” he said.
Wendell Hughes will begin his term in January.