Green Party Candidate for Mayor of Glens Falls
Why I'm Running For Mayor
Glens Falls is home. Margot and I moved our wine store to the Wood Theater storefront in 2005, and then we moved ourselves here in 2007. From day one, our Downtown neighbors welcomed us, and soon our store was a hub of community activity. Many of you will remember it as a "must visit" stop on the Third Thursday Art Walks, or as the store with the public piano, or as the store with a binder full of restaurant menus at the checkout counter, or as the store where we would find the wine you wanted, no matter how obscure. UnCorked Glens Falls was a bright, cheerful and lively pool of light on Glen Street.
We also saw our neighbors struggle. Beloved stores and restaurants opened and closed around us. You may remember "Dog Ate My Homework", "Red Fox Books", "The Chocolate Mill", "Sterling and Co." and "Rare Earth Wine Bar".
In the wake of Dog Ate My Homework's closing, seven of us formed the Glens Falls Collaborative. Our mission was to cross-promote our businesses, and make sure that every visitor knew there was plenty to do and enjoy here in Glens Falls. Collaborative membership consisted of about a dozen businesses in its first year.
We closed UnCorked Glens Falls in October 2013, but we continued our involvement here in Glens Falls. The Collaborative has grown to 114 members, and in 2016 it organized public events on 23 different days. It has attracted many tens of thousands of visitors to Downtown. Today, I am President of the Collaborative and Margot is a very active volunteer. We don't do this for the money, and we haven't had our own business to promote since 2013. We do this because Glens Falls is home.
But, why run for Mayor? Margot and I have done much more than run a wine store and co-found the Collaborative. We organized, operated and sold a successful video store in Hudson Falls and helped found the Glens Falls Food Co-Op.
In addition, I have significant, government leadership experience. Since 1993, I have worked full-time, deep within NYS government, in analysis and in program management. For sixteen of those years, I managed several lines of business, with thousands of Customers and combined revenue of $61 million per year.
I know government, and how to do it right. I have energy. I have skill. I love my home and I am ready to bring it all to the Mayor's Office of the City of Glens Falls.
Sincerely,
Rich Cirino
