Having Mayor Ryan deliver his last State of the City address begs the question, who will be Binghamton's next mayor?
While no one has officially announced their candidacy yet, two possible job suitors were in the audience last night. Democratic City Councilwoman Teri Rennia says she didn't view this speech any differently, even though she's considering a run for the office. "I don't think it changes anything for me. Always as I've sat through 7 States of the City myself now, I try to keep an open mind, try to hear about the positive things, try to reflect on where I think things can be done a little differently. I don't think that's changed. That's always been my approach."
Former two-time independent candidate for Mayor, Douglas Drazen, will only say that he's considering another run. He's now a Republican. He gave his reaction to last night's speech. Drazen says, "I thought it was interesting and I think people should remember that this is the last State of the City address from this mayor because of the term limits case I won in 1994. We changed the law, changed the way the city works and we changed history."
The Broome County Republican Chairman has said he expects a major announcement from a mayoral candidate to happen in the near future. Past Republican mayoral candidate, Rich David, will not seek the position.
