DISTRICT 5

The Gordon 911 story held us down for a few days. Now we can get back to our district race profiles.

DISTRICT 5

Possibly the most diverse election district, economically, socially, racially and alphabetically. District 5, or The 5-0, encompasses parts of South Troy as well as the East Side. Five has it all. A resident can imbibe at a local common room, break into a house on a tree-lined street and find themselves down at the jail: All without leaving the confines of District 5. Except for the jail. That's in 6.  It's one-stop shopping. Newcomers may refer to anything south of Washington Park as South Troy but to the Old Timers, South Troy began south of the canal.

Geography: Very urban and industrial, until you climb the hill.  One great feature: the Avenue of Presidents: Washington, Adams, Jefferson et al. and those two shadowy, enigmatic Chief Executives, Ida and Canal.


Electoral History:

2009

K. Zalewski - D  Unopposed

2011

K. Zalewski - D 1,266
S. Donnelly - R 740

2013

K. Zalewski - D Unopposed


Enrollment

D- 1,511
R- 675
C- 168
W - 74
I- 293
Blank - 1,298

Councilman Ken Zalewski (term-limited) challenged incumbent Bob Krogh back in 2007 and defeated him handily. Since then, Zalewski has made District 5 his bitch. In an electoral sense, that is.


Contestants:

LYNN KOPKA - D



Kopka has served as Council President after her 2011 victory in the at-large race. Two years later she won another at-large race, narrowly, but lost the presidency. She is now gunning for a district seat. She should be a shoe-in, but for David Bissember. Bissember, of Team Troy, looked like the primary winner on September 10. After the absentee ballots were opened, Kopka emerged victorious. Like a feral cat, she appears to have nine political lives. But Bissember is still on the ballot as the Working Families candidate. You know,  Kopka takes a lot of shit for raising the feral cat problem as an issue. Right. Because trying to reduce the feral cat population is 'whacky' rather than humane. It also helps prevent the spread of disease. If you find that ridiculous, you're  a twat. Wiltshire and Zalewski strongly dislike Kopka, finding her rude for not sampling their Kool-Aid.



TOM CASEY - R

 I know. We couldn't believe it either. This is the same Tom Casey that used to be Troy Republican Chair. He might be a decent guy, but Christ. Years ago, when Casey was Chair, Ken Zalewski challenged incumbent Bob Krogh. This was in 2007. In an interview with Chet Hardin, Zalewski and Krogh comported themselves as gentlemen. No cheap shots. Casey couldn't help but criticize the money raised by Zalewski, which was quite a bundle. Some of it from people outside Troy! Egad! Perhaps this was a vague reference to Zalewski living openly as a Polish-American. Anyway, while he's criticizing Zalewski for raising $6,000 of non-Troy money, Tutunjian had raised more than $30,000 from corporations outside of Troy. A hack in the truest sense. Enjoys Buxtehuda while quaffing a '47 Pichon Longueville.  D-5 isn't known for self-inflicted wounds. Maybe this time.


DAVID BISSEMBER - W

A newcomer to the political scene, Bissember made a move for the Democratic nod as the shortstop for Team Troy and almost won. Now, he's the WFP candidate for District 5, with a real shot at being a spoiler and giving us Councilman Casey. That, frankly, should give any thoughtful person pause. Or, does Zalewski have enough political juice to push his hand-picked successor over the finish line. Reform party politics by hand-picking your successor? Guess that's not a machine.





Did You Know: District 5 sits between District 4 and District 6.