Monday Showdown: Vote on controversial Albany County Attorney appointment tonight

The vote for Albany County Attorney, the $110,000-post that County Executive Daniel P. McCoy hopes that attorney Thomas Marcelle will fill, is tonight at the Albany County Courthouse in Downtown Albany.

The 39-member legislature will begin public comment at 6:30 p.m. and will vote on the nomination later tonight in what is expected to be a lengthy session (the Working Families Party has set up a Facebook event for the public hearing for more information).

Marcelle’s nomination came under fire in the past few weeks, stemming from Marcelle’s connections to the Alliance Defense Fund, a “servant organization that provides the resources that will keep the door open for the spread of the Gospel through the legal defense of religious freedom, the sanctity of life, marriage  and the family,” according to their website.

LGBT activist Libby Post, who is also the CEO of Communication Serivces, set up a website in opposition to Marcelle’s nomination. StopTomMarcelle.org calls for “McCoy to withdraw this nomination and if he refuses for the members of the Albany County Legislature to vote against it. No member of the Albany County Legislature, who is pro-choice, pro-equality, and pro-separation of church and state, should vote in good conscience be able to vote for this nomination.”

In recent days, elected officials outside of the legislature have gotten involved, with Marcelle “has a record of supporting attacks on the rights of women and the LGBT community,” according to Albany City Treasurer Katherine M. Sheehan in a statement via e-mail and on Facebook.

“Surely the spirit of bi-partisanship cannot cause us to relinquish our core Democratic values. As Democrats, how can we allow a far right social conservative like Mr. Marcelle to hold such a crucial policy posiiton in our County,” said Sheehan.

“Albany and New York State have come a long way since then when it comes to advancing human rights and embracing diversity. We must continue to move forward in these respects, not turn the clock back. That’s why I’m deeply troubled by the appointment of Thomas Marcelle to be Albany County Attorney,” said Albany Common Council President Pro Tempore Richard Conti.

Marcelle’s nomination process has been at the forefront of the new McCoy administration, in which at one point the county named Marcelle as county attorney in their phone directory (after our report on the matter, the phone directory was changed to ‘vacant’).

We will have continuous coverage of the Marcelle nomination tonight – check our Twitter or the hashtag #ALBMarcelle.

Print PDF