Video Collision: Utica Mayor Galime, Councilperson Aiello

There has been a back and forth confrontation between Councilperson Katie Aiello and Utica Mayor Mike Galime, precipitated by critical Aiello videos, since Galime was sworn into the position more than a year ago.  The two of them sat down for a back-and-forth on Wednesday is order to "air things out" and make sure everybody is working together for the betterment of the city. I'm not sure it worked out quite that way.

The concept of a sit-down began last week when Aiello was criticizing the Mayor on a number of issues - that quite frankly, can't be debunked, verified or explained without Mayor Galime in the room. I proposed that she sit down, in-studio, with Mayor Galime so we could air all of her differences out. I remember saying something to the effect that, there are so many great things happening right now, it would be in everyone's best interest if everybody was on the same page. The next day, Mayor Galime was on the air and I proposed the concept to him, and he reluctantly agreed to the interview.

The interview lasted about 45 minutes and there were plenty of people who had opinions on the "debate" - so, I'm placing the video of the interview in this article and will let you form your own conclusions.

Keep in mind, the Mayor is not up for re-election; however, Aiello is and she faces an opponent in November, Ciro Raspante, in Utica's First Ward. Aiello has agreed to participate in a debate with Raspante sometime in the near future on WIBX. We've reached out to Raspante and are awaiting his reply.