Troy Council’s Emergency-Powers Hearing Returns Aug. 6 Amid Flock Dispute
Troy residents will have another opportunity Thursday, Aug. 6, to comment on proposed legislation that would replace the city charter’s rules for declaring public emergencies.
The Troy City Council’s public hearing on Local Law No. 4 is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers on the fifth floor of Troy City Hall, 433 River Street. Residents may participate in person or remotely through Zoom, and the meeting will be livestreamed on the Troy City Council’s YouTube channel.
What the proposed law would change
Local Law No. 4 would repeal and replace Charter Section C-40, titled “Public Emergencies.” The notice says the proposed replacement is intended to align Troy’s charter language with New York Executive Law Article 2-B, the state framework governing emergency declarations.
The measure remains a proposal. The Aug. 6 gathering is a public-comment step in the legislative process, not final enactment of the charter amendment. The city’s notice says interested parties may be heard, and residents participating through Zoom can request to speak by using the “raise hand” function. Comments submitted through Zoom’s Q&A section may also be entered into the record.
The council introduced the local law at its June 4, 2026, meeting. The official minutes also show the council adopted a resolution scheduling public hearings on the proposed charter change. A separate city notice set hearings for July 23, and the Aug. 6 notice establishes the next scheduled opportunity for residents to comment.
Why the hearing is tied to the Flock dispute
The proposed charter change follows a dispute between the council and Mayor Carmella Mantello over an April emergency declaration and continued payments connected to the city’s contract for Flock automated license-plate-reader services.
Spectrum News reported that the council unanimously overrode Mantello’s veto on July 9, allowing hearings on Local Law No. 4 to proceed. The report said the council pursued the hearings after Mantello declared an emergency in April and used that action to continue Flock payments following the council’s effort to halt them.
The dispute includes competing claims about the mayor’s emergency authority, whether the contract payments required council authorization, and the balance between public safety, privacy and civil liberties. Council President Sue Steele characterized the action as an unauthorized renewal and expenditure, while Mantello argued that the council had not acted before the contract renewal deadline and that unpaid cameras could be removed, creating public-safety concerns.
Those arguments remain disputed. The records reviewed for this article do not establish as a final legal finding that the emergency declaration or Flock payments were illegal.
How residents can participate
Residents can attend the Aug. 6 hearing at Troy City Hall or use the remote Zoom option listed in the city’s notice. The meeting will also be livestreamed on the council’s YouTube channel.
For residents following the dispute, there are two separate questions at issue: whether Troy should change the charter language governing emergency powers, and whether the mayor’s April emergency declaration and related Flock payments were authorized. The Aug. 6 hearing concerns the proposed charter amendment, while the surveillance, public-safety and spending arguments provide the political context surrounding it.
No official record reviewed here confirms that Aug. 6 will be the final hearing or that the council will vote on the measure that night. Residents should treat the meeting as an opportunity to review the proposal and place comments on the public record.
Sources
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