Marietta, Howard support Hubbard for Albany mayor

ALBANY — Two recently re-elected Albany City Commissioners publicly endorsed former Ward II Commissioner Dorothy Hubbard in her bid to become Albany’s next mayor.

The endorsements came during a press conference Tuesday morning at Hubbard’s headquarters on West Broad Avenue.

“Sitting on the commission with her, I’ve seen her work in pushing the gang unit and getting behind 311 and the code red system and think she’ll bring her knowledge of the city with her to the office if elected,” Ward IV Commissioner and Mayor Pro Tem Roger Marietta said.

Marietta, who won re-election to his Ward IV seat Nov. 8, said Hubbard showed during her time as mayor pro-tem — the commissioner who runs commission meetings in the absence of the mayor — that she’s prepared to take charge of the board and can keep the meetings under control.

Hubbard is locked in a runoff with local restaurateur B.J. Fletcher after neither of the two managed to get the 50 percent plus one vote necessary to win the seat in the Nov. 8 general election.

Fletcher took the majority of the 13,000 ballots cast in the race, roughly 40 percent of the vote, with Hubbard pulling in roughly 36 percent.

Howard and Marietta join outgoing Mayor Willie Adams in endorsing Hubbard for the city’s top spot.

“She’s a consensus-builder who has the personality and character to work with any group or person in the community,” Adams said in an interview before the Nov. 8 general election. “And, during her time on the commission, she’s proven that on various issues … we’re making positive traction in this community. I believe she can grow and build on that.”