Michael Galime isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, whether it’s with the baseball team he helps coach or in doing what he believes is right for the city of Utica.

Galime has served as Utica’s Common Council president for eight years.

“Over the years, I've garnered the experience to lead the city. And last year, I started thinking about it and I started rearranging my entire thought process around the fact that I could be the mayor," Galime said.

Another face known by Uticans is Galime’s primary opponent, Robert Cardillo.

Cardillo has been a school board member for the `last four years and says he has held county government roles.

“I think it's time that we have some fresh ideas, but also continue to move forward with the things that the mayor has already done,” said Cardillo.

Cardillo said he owns a consulting firm and his strengths are in economic development.

“Having been the regional director for Empire State Development in the Pataki administration and then working eight years in the Bush administration and for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, helping to do the rebuild after 9/11 for the Lower Manhattan Development Project," Cardillo said.

During his terms as Common Council president, Galime said he’s learned the inner-workings of city hall.

He acknowledges the significant investments made to the city, namely private sector developments, and said now it’s time to focus on neighborhoods.

“When I'm talking to people one-on-one at their doorsteps, they're talking about public safety. They're talking about codes. They're talking about the fact that they want to see infrastructure improvements that they wanted in their own neighborhoods," Galime said.

Cardillo agrees that neighborhoods should be focused on more.

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Then there’s the topic of taxes.

“We have a fund balance, and the mayor's done a great job providing us with that fund balance. And here's what I say about the ability to raise or lower taxes. The citizens should be provided the opportunity to have lower taxes if the city can afford it," Cardillo said.

“Before anyone says they should be lowering taxes, we need to also understand that while we're growing, we have not increased our ability other than a recent safer grant to deliver services to the people. So we also need to grow what the city can offer at this point," said Galime.

If elected mayor, both candidates said they want to foster an environment where everyone can work together.

Primary election day is Tuesday, June 27. Early voting is already underway.