Loading ...On Friday, February 28th, Mayor Sheehan visited Albany High and spoke to students who went to attend the “Lunch With a Leader” program. She started her visit with a quick recap of Albany’s history, the present, and what to expect in a few years.
Sheehan discussed how the Algonquian Indians dominated what is now the Capital District. In 1609, Henry Hudson and the Dutch came up the Hudson River and into Albany. Some time later in 1754, Benjamin Franklin attended the Colonial Congress and preached a unification of the colonies. The Albany Plan of Union was created where the townspeople specialized in fur trade. Now, we’re the Nanotech center of the world.
Mayor Sheehan was born on December 5th, 1963 outwside of Chicago. She moved around a child, graduating from Hudson High School in Ohio. She attended Bowling Green State University, majoring in Journalism. She got a job as early as age 12 after she was told she’d be paying for college on her own.
After working in communications and journalism, Sheehan returned to school, graduating in 1994 from Albany Law on an Academic Scholarship. She practiced Labor and Employment law, handling cases between employees and their employers. She was unhappy with this path because she was dealing with established problems. She wanted to fix them before they reached the lawyers.
Sheehan eventually became the vice president of General Counsel Intermagnetics General Company. This company created MRI machines and other medical devices and sold them to hospitals. Sheehan drew up contracts, helping to sell the products. Unfortunately, her company was bought out and she, along with many others, lost their jobs.
In 2012, Sheehan became the Albany City Treasurer, having been asked to run earlier on. She had no previous interest in politics, but ran anyways, believing that there may perhaps be another way she could help solve the problems of the city.
Sheehan worked with Mayor Jennings for four years, and ran for mayor after he announced that he was not running for reelection. On January 1st, 2014, Sheehan was sworn in as the 75th mayor of Albany, and the first female mayor in 328 years.
When Sheehan visited Albany High, she talked about how much she loved this city and how proud she is of Albany. She showed the students pictures of undeveloped land that can be used to create new and exciting attractions. She also pointed out the waterfront and historical buildings throughout the downtown area. Sheehan asked the students what would they like to be used with the land. She got a variety of different answers.
Some students talked about amusement parks; others said youth centers or sports complexes. Various types of malls were mentioned, as well as fitness centers and even a teen center.
By the waterfront, students suggested boathouses and bike trails. Suggestions were made to make apartment buildings, with offices and resources right in the complex. Cable cars and ferries were mentioned as well to connect the train station to the city proper;y.
Sheehan urged Albany High students to find unique ways to attract tourists. She said, “we are the capital of the capital of the world”.
I had the fortune to ask Mayor Sheehan a few questions before she left. She said she was inspired to run for mayor because she wanted to stop complaining about all of the problems and start fixing them.
Her goals as mayor is to connect everyone and reach out to the isolated communities. She wants to best utilize our resources. She saw the transition from Mayor Jennings to herself as very smooth, seeing as she had worked with him for the previous four years.
When asked for some advice to student interested in politics, she said that there were so many different ways to do things. She says to get as broad a breadth of experience as possible, to do the things you like, and to try to understand people.
The most amazing thing about her talks was how open she was to the students. This city isn’t just for the adults working around town; it’s for the family and the kids living here. We shouldn’t just focus on what the adults need, we need to focus on creating places for the teens as well. We need to build places that will be used throughout our lives.
Sheehan was talking to us, the students, because we live here and so we have a say. The fact that she not only cares about what we have to say, but listens and comments on our ideas shows that she really is working to improve the city, and not just to make a name for herself. Mayor Sheehan is determined, creative, and ambitious. She’ll bring this city to its feet, with the help of each citizen, teens and adults alike.