UTICA — With recent spikes in crime happening in Utica, candidate for mayor Robert Cardillo continues to pledge addressing crime throughout the city.

Over the course of one week, Utica has seen instances of an individual wielding a machete, an attempted robbery, and a shooting that left one individual injured and one dead. These events have dominated the local news and raised concerns with multiple residents.

“One of the most important jobs a mayor can take on is combating crime,” Cardillo said.

During his campaign announcement on Nov. 10, 2022, Cardillo stated he would be releasing more in-depth information regarding his political platforms, however, he emphasized addressing crime as a major issue and is continuing to do so.

Officials in the city say that the recent crimes are rare, but they also say that crime rates in the city as a whole have gone down.

“The real main problem is that we noticed the [negative] mental health has almost doubled over the year,” Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri said.

“Our crime is down, but when you hear of the gentleman with the machete, we did an outstanding job where no one got hurt. ... These are somethings that are, unfortunately, sometimes out of our control,” Palmieri added.

Palmieri, who has held the office since 2011, is serving his third term. Due to term limit rules, Palmieri is not eligible to run in the 2023 election. If he chooses to, Palmieri would become eligible to run for mayor again after one term has elapsed.

Palmieri’s administration has helped add additional police officers, established a task force focused on preventing crime and allocated investments for body-worn cameras. Cardillo also proposed establishing a task force as well as lobbying state representatives and Gov. Kathy Hochul to revise the state’s bail reform and return the power of deciding cashless bail to the courts.

Cardillo also wants to take advantage of the growth of the city due to the construction of large projects in the area. He also wants to make sure that crime rates don’t go up and scare away investors from the area.

“While the general effects of crime are known, one of the most crucial results of the rise in crime is the affect it has on economic development,” Cardillo said.

Another one of Cardillo’s promises as mayor would be to establish a street-by-street and neighborhood-by-neighborhood campaign to attack blight, address abandoned properties and increase the confidence of residents. Cardillo said on the proposed campaign that “there is significant data available to prove this process works and, if elected, I intend to implement it in the city of Utica.”

Cardillo is currently the only person who has announced his candidacy for mayor of Utica. With six months left until the primary election, future candidates are expected to make announcements to run.