A Look Back: Mayor David Roefaro

The Mayor was excited to reflect back on his term but at the same realizing change is on the way. The holiday season is here and soon new leadership will take the reins in city hall. But before that happens, Mayor David Roefaro still has a few days left as Utica's leader. In 2007 two term common council representative David Roefaro was elected the seventy-fifth Mayor of Utica. In 2008 America hit the worst economic time since the great depression but newly elected mayor David Roefaro was determined to change the City of Utica. "When I first took over as Mayor the economy tanked, that first three months the economy tanked, we've done a lot of things in a bad economy. And what we did above all was put Utica back on the map, we made Utica relevant again." The Mayor admits his term hasn't always been easy but he made a promise before taking office. "When I took office I said I would promis three things, I promised that I would lower crime, I promised that I would do the Harbor project and I promised a master plan and I delivered on all three of those promises." One project that has been close to Roefaro's heart is the harbor point project. "You know they've been talking about a Harbor project for fifty years and to know that we've done that, to know that we have put the wheels in motion that we have the land sign over and we're cleaning it up, that the buildings are coming down, that's real economic development. To know that I started that when I drive by it really warms me."