Hi, I am John Polimeni and I am running for the Schenectady City Council. I would like to introduce myself to let you know a little about me. My grandparents were immigrants eventually settling down in Schenectady, living in the Goose Hill and Hamilton Hill Neighborhoods. My parents grew up in Schenectady, eventually purchasing a home in Bellevue where I was born and raised. Like life for many others in Schenectady, times were tough - we didn’t have much but were fortunate to have the necessities, a roof over our head, food on the table, and clothes on our back. As I grew older I went through the Schenectady City Public Schools, graduating from Mont Pleasant High School. I then went on to college, starting at Boston University and playing Division 1 baseball. A shoulder injury ended my baseball career and I transferred to RPI where I earned a BS in Mathematics. I then earned a MA in Financial Economics from SUNY Albany with a certificate in Regulatory Economics from the Public Service Commission. I continued my studies and earned a Ph.D. in Ecological Economics, graduating once again from RPI. After finishing my education I chose to remain in Schenectady and purchased a home on McClellan St and work as a professor of economics at the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. I am also proud to say I won the prestigious Fulbright Fellowship to research and teach economic development. I want to use my capabilities and experience to help improve the city. I know our struggles in Schenectady as I have seen those first hand, as a resident, as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Schenectady Municipal Housing Authority and Vice President of Better Neighborhoods, Inc. I know the barriers that exist for people trying to improve their situation. I am a problem solver, when I see problems, I fix them. By fixing just a few things, people could significantly improve their standard of living. Unfortunately, there are candidates that want to treat the symptom rather than the disease. I will work to treat the disease, the epidemic of poverty which infects the city of Schenectady. I will promote job creation and suggest companies that can be recruited to come to the city that will bring good paying blue collar jobs. I will suggest a private-public partnership between the government and trade unions for job training that will lead to jobs that are sorely needed by the residents of Schenectady. We can work with the students at Union College and SCCC to get those with an entrepreneurial spirit into business incubators or mentorship programs to keep these talented young people in the city. I will bring forward proposals to use our city resources for economic growth, leading to lower property taxes. I will offer suggestions to improve quality of life, help rejuvenate our neighborhoods, and take on the issues that others only complain about. This is what leadership is about – solving problems. Unfortunately, there are those that talk a lot about the problems, and they are really good at it. But we need to fix problems, not just talk about them. When I say I am going to do something, I do it. I will lead and get things done. We can improve the lives of people in Schenectady. I have the expertise to help accelerate the growth that Schenectady is experiencing. We can have more efficient and responsive government and with my background in economics and finance I can help get this done. Schenectady is improving and our best days are ahead of us. We, as a city, are on the verge of great things once again. I ask you to partner with me and remember to vote John Polimeni for Schenectady City Council on November 3.

• published: 04 Sep 2015
• views: 2