As I noted, the trick with the library trustee vote for Albany Public Library on May 19 was that I found at least six of the candidates to be credible choices.
The vote totals for the nine trustee candidates were:
1. Kathryn Bamberger with 1,263 votes
2. Kayli McTague with 1,251 votes
3. Matthew Reed with 908 votes
4. Sarah Macinski with 865 votes
5. Leslie Dykeman with 751 votes
6. Smriti Sinha with 750 votes
7. Lori Kochanski with 701 votes
8. Jenna Kersten with 515 votes
9. Kenneth Louzier with 443 votes
Kat and Kayli were elected to full five-year terms, while Matthew Reed was elected to a partial one-year term.
I ended up voting for Kat, who I knew had been deeply involved in our public schools for years, in part because she came to my house and got my signature. Retail politics at its finest.
I also voted for Sarah Macinski, whose great job as the current board president cannot be overstated. And the truth is that I’ve known her personally for more than two decades. She and I have kids who are a year apart in age. She is good at trustee administering but only so-so at campaigning; I got a few people to sign her petition.
Also: “Albany voters approved the Albany Public Library 2026-27 budget May 19 with a final tally of 2,412 to 646. The $9,661,856 million budget was approved by 79% of the voters.” YAY!
“‘The approved budget erases our deficit and stabilizes our fund balance for rainy-day capital needs. This vote protects current branches, hours, and services, as well as library jobs,’ said APL Executive Director Andrea Nicolay.”
The City School of Albany’s votes went as I had hoped.
Not incidentally, I went to the city school district building and voted on Monday because I would be out of town on Tuesday. That IS a thing one can do!
FFAPL
The Friends and Foundation of the Albany Public Library book reviews and author talks on Tuesdays at 2 pm at the Washington Avenue branch, large auditorium.
