Three candidates — Republican Michael Galime, Conservative Bob Cardillo and Democrat/Working Families candidate Celeste Friend— are hoping to succeed Robert Palmieri as mayor of Utica in this November’s election.  

Cardillo, a school board member, said he’s particularly concerned about crime in the city.  

“I've introduced an eight-point crime plan that will bring precincts to Cornell West, Utica east to the north, Utica and South Utica in order to have a police presence in these neighborhoods and to make the police, fire and our codes department work cohesively in order to make our neighborhoods better, safer and cleaner," Cardillo said.  

Friend, a Utica Common Council member and part-time SUNY POLY teacher and administrator, is running on the Democratic and Working Families lines.  

"Nobody can come close to my record on communicating with people, whether it be through my newsletter, I'm going on the radio, posting on Facebook, making little videos. Nobody comes close to my track record. Strong track record of communicating with the people of Utica," Friend said.

Representing the Republican line is Michael Galime, who has been the Common Council president for eight years and is also an accomplished musician, recently playing at the Feast of St. Cosmas and Damian.  

“It's really important to me to be connected to the people that you represent, especially coming from being a council president. Through the campaign, I go door to door, whether I'm performing for Community Musicians Day in the public schools, or playing at a feast, or coaching baseball," said Galime.

The three candidates have similar views; each hope to have a renewed focus on neighborhoods in Utica, hire a public safety commissioner and feel out taxes year-by-year if elected. But they obviously differ on who they believe would best handle such tasks as mayor.  

“I've had significant positions with the federal government, with the state government, where I've managed people, managed programs. Having worked on the Mississippi Gulf Coast during Hurricane Katrina, being the lead person for the Mississippi Development Authority and also the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. I can do this job on day one,” Cardillo said.

Mayor Robert Palmieri can’t run for reelection because of term limits. Candidates hope to build on his administration while expanding in other directions, too.  

"I see new, exciting things happening. So, the challenge is both how to keep that going, but also how to build on those successes and to make sure that those successes on the big scale translate into better quality of life, better public safety, more transparency for citizens," Friend said.

Another candidate who is running for the seat, but won’t be on the ballot, is Courtney Muhammad, who will be a write-in candidate.