List of mayors of Rensselaer, New York

Rensselaer is a small city on the east side of the Hudson River in the state of New York. A total of 34 individuals have served as mayor since the city's incorporation in 1897, some serving numerous terms. Michael Stammel (Republican) is the current mayor; he was first elected in 2019 and began service on January 1, 2020. Stammel was re-elected to a four-year term on November 2, 2021.

Mike Stammel
34th Mayor of Rensselaer
Incumbent
Assumed office January 1, 2020
Preceded by	Richard Mooney
Chairman, Rensselaer County Legislature
In office January 2, 2018 – December 31, 2021
Preceded by	Stan Brownell
Succeeded by	Kelly Hoffman
District 6, Rensselaer County Legislature
In office January 1, 2002 – December 31, 2017
Preceded by	Louis R. Polsinello Jr.
Succeeded by	Brian J. Stall
Personal details
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Bonnie Hahn
Education	Empire State College (AS)

On April 23, 1897, Governor Frank S. Black granted a law under Chapter 359 creating the municipality that would be known as the City of Rensselaer.

Charles S. Allen served as the first mayor of the new municipality. The first meeting of the common council of the City of Rensselaer was ordered by Mayor Allen to take place on Tuesday evening April 27, 1897 at 8:30 pm.^[1]

Mayor Michael E. Stammel

Michael E. Stammel is an American politician serving as the 34th mayor of Rensselaer.^[2] He was sworn in on January 1, 2020. He was re-elected on November 2, 2021 to serve a four-year term.^[3] Prior to serving as mayor, Stammel served as chairman of the Rensselaer County Legislature.

Career

Michael Stammel began his career as a politician serving on Rensselaer Common Council in 1994.^[4] During his tenure on the council, Stammel briefly served as council president. After finishing his term, he decided to run for a seat on the Rensselaer County Legislature.^[5] In 2019, after the passing of Mayor Daniel Dwyer, Stammel decided to run against Richard Mooney in a special election to finish Dwyer's term.^[6] Disagreements between Stammel and members of the Common Council led the council to consider limiting politicians to only holding one office at a time. At the time, Stammel also served as Chairman of the Rensselaer County Legislature, a dual office position that the council wanted to prevent.^[7]

Environmental issues

Stammel has been vocal about two different environmental issues in Rensselaer: the Dunn Landfill and the proposed BioHiTech waste to energy facility.^[8][9] When the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation blasted the city over their handling of the proposed BioHiTech waste to energy facility, Stammel stepped in.^[10] Public comments made by Stammel in August 2020 led to NYS DEC turning down permit requests by Rensselaer Resource Recovery / BioHiTech Global. Under the previous city administration, a land use permit for BioHiTech was greenlighted. Prior to the facility's permits being reviewed by NYS DEC, their land use permits with the City of Rensselaer expired. Due to expired permits, Stammel said the city would require a full environmental review before allowing the project to proceed. The city's original negative declaration for a full environmental review is what led to the state blasting the city.^[11]

Dunn Landfill

During public hearings on the proposed Dunn Landfill in 2012, Stammel and his colleague on the County Legislature, Cristo, submitted a 3-page letter to NYS DEC with their concerns. (Letter dated 2/17/2012 available through FOIL request of NYS DEC) ^[12] Concerns highlighted by Stammel and Cristo included: Shredded materials and enforcement, truck traffic, and the proximity to the Rensselaer City School District campus. Stammel has been extremely vocal about the landfill's impacts on the community, stating that the landfill needs to be shut down. While serving on the County Legislature, Stammel sponsored several resolutions calling on the landfill's closure and help from the state Department of Health. Resolutions have also been passed by the City of Rensselaer Common Council and the East Greenbush Town Board.^[13][14][15]

Emergency services

Michael Stammel has committed his life to emergency services, serving as a volunteer firefighter and EMT in the City of Rensselaer for many years. When elected mayor, he vowed to bring a full-time ambulance service in to the city. He also vowed to upgrade equipment and vehicles.^[16][17] Since becoming mayor, there has been an ongoing dispute between Stammel and the city council over which ambulance service should serve as the provider for the city. The dispute lead to a court case where the judge determined that both sides were wrong. The judge determined that a Request for Proposals must be initiated and the city must interview all interested agencies before making a decision.^[18]

Nineteenth century

#	Portrait	Mayor	Start	End	Party	Comment
1		Charles S. Allen	1897	1899		The first mayor of the City of Rensselaer, New York. Charles Allen convened the first common council meeting in the City of Rensselaer on April 27, 1897. Charles Allen was a graduate of Vermont Medical College. During the Civil War, he was an assistant surgeon of the 125th New York Volunteer Infantry. Allen was also coroner of Rensselaer County for nine years and president of the village of Greenbush.[19]
2		James I. Miles	1900	1901

Twentieth century

#	Portrait	Mayor	Start	End	Party	Comment
3		Bradford R. Lansing	1901		Republican	Grocer and pork dealer. Bradford Lansing was born in Niskayuna, NY in 1860. He became Mayor of Rensselaer in 1901. Lansing was a member of the NYS Assembly between 1906–1912.
4		Thomas Kimber	1904	1907
5		W. Rockefeller	1908	1911
6		Thomas Penny	1911	1913		Chaplain of Masonic Greenbush Lodge Chapter, No. 274 in 1911.
7		Fred A. Rohloff	1914	1915
8		John H. McIntyre	1915	1918		Appointed Sheriff by the Governor of New York on June 30, 1921.
9		John S. Hall	1919	1920		Served on the Committee on Literacy Program in 1919.
10		Henry Meurs	1921	1922	Republican	Hardware dealer. Henry Meurs was a member of the NYS Assembly representing the 2nd District of Rensselaer County in 1924.
11		Harvey C. Younghans	1923	1925		Harvey Younghans served as mayor for a short time. Several years later, Younghans served as city clerk.
12		James W. Adams	1926	1929	Republican	Previously served as city treasurer.
13		Clarence A. McNally	1930	1931	Democrat	Alternate delegate to Democratic National Convention from New York in 1960. Clarence McNally served as Mayor during the 1930s and the 1950s.
14		James Johnstone	1932	1935
15		William T. Wright	1936	1939	Republican
16		Marshall C. Rose	1940	1941	Democrat
17		Charles G. Maloy	1943	1945		Charles Maloy did not finish his term in office and resigned for unknown reasons.
18		Thomas S. H. Clark	1945	1953	Democrat
19		W. Hardt	1953	1953
20		Clarence A. McNally	1954	1961		See first entry above
21		John H. Warden	1966	1971
22		Irwin Stewart	1972	1973
23		Joseph P. Mink	1974	1981
24		Thomas E. Henry III	1981	1983		Mayor Henry was removed from office in 1983 following his conviction for official misconduct and obstructing governmental administration after threatening an alderman to vote a specific way.[20]
25		Edward J. Finlan	1983	1983		Edward Finlan was instated as Mayor of Rensselaer following Mayor Henry's conviction. Finlan had previously served as President of the city council. Under the city charter, the next in the line of succession to fill a vacancy in the mayor's office is the council president.
26		Joseph E. Harrigan	1984	1993
27		John F. Ryan	1994	1996
28-		Joseph Kapp	1996	1996
29		Edward J. Finlan	1997	1997
29		Linda M. Ganance	1998	2001

Twenty-first century

#	Portrait	Mayor	Start	End	Party	Comment
31		Mark G. Pratt	2002	2005	Republican	Mark Pratt was a Republican mayor who ran on a bipartisan platform. He made significant changes even though he faced opposition. Due to forging ahead to make great positive change, he was accused of gas theft and the judge dismissed all charges as there was no wrongdoing.[21]
32		Daniel J. Dwyer	2006	2018	Democrat	Daniel Dwyer was a past city alderman and the 32nd mayor of Rensselaer. Mayor Dwyer died in November 2018 after serving as mayor for 12 years.[22]
33		Richard J. Mooney	2019	2020	Democrat	Richard Mooney was a past city alderman, council president and the 33rd mayor of Rensselaer. Under the city charter, Mooney was instated as mayor following the death of Mayor Daniel Dwyer in 2018.
34		Michael E. Stammel	2020	Present	Republican	Michael Stammel previously served as a city alderman and a legislator on the Rensselaer County Legislature from 2002-2021. From 2017-2021 he served as its chairman. Mayor Stammel is the 34th and current mayor of Rensselaer.

References

1. Historian :: City of Rensselaer, New York
2. Gwizdala, Michael (November 6, 2019). "Stammel wins mayoral race in Rensselaer". The Record. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
3. "Mike Stammel wins re-election in Rensselaer mayoral race". Retrieved December 6, 2021.
4. "Michael Stammel Rensselaer, NY Alumni". Rensselaer, NY Alumni Association. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
5. "After bitter race, Rensselaer Mayor Mike Stammel declares victory". WAMC. 2021-12-06. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
6. Lucas, Dave. "City Of Rensselaer Poised For Big Changes At City Hall In 2020". WAMC. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
7. Crowe, Kenneth. "Rensselaer ends dual office holding; mayor still vows to run again". Times Union. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
8. "Community Discussion Over Troubled Dunn Landfill In Rensselaer Continues". WAMC. 2021-09-30. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
9. "DEC denies essential permits for proposed waste facility on the Hudson in Rensselaer". Riverkeeper. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
10. Karlin, Rick. "State blasts Rensselaer over trash processing". Press Reader. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
11. Karlin, Rick. "DEC turns down permit request for waste-to-energy plant in Rensselaer". Times Union. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
12. "NYS DEC Foil Request". Open FOIL NY. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
13. "Rensselaer mayor calls on state to close Dunn landfill". WTEN News 10 ABC. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
14. Levy, Dan. "Resolution to close Rensselaer landfill passes unanimously". WNYT News Channel 13. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
15. Nearing, Brian. "Rensselaer county lawmakers urging scrutiny on Dunn dump". San Francisco Chronicle. Times Union. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
16. Gwizdala, Mike. "Stammel sees optimistic future for Rensselaer". The Record. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
17. Maugeri, Steve. "Rensselaer mayor pushes for ambulance provider in the city". CBS6 Albany. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
18. Crowe, Kenneth. "Rensselaer city ambulance service snarled in political dispute". Times Union. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
19. Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 73 (published December 31, 1919), January 7, 2020
20. Matter of Henry v. Tutunjian
21. Franco, James (May 21, 2003), "Police chief pouring gas on fire in Rensselaer", Troy Record
22. "Rensselaer Mayor Dan Dwyer dies, remembered for dedication to city". Times Union. 2018-11-20. Retrieved 2020-06-05.

• Source for the names and years: City of Rensselaer Common Council Minutes