SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – Primary elections for many municipal offices are happening on June 27. One of the races is for the city of Schenectady. Democrat Marion Porterfield is trying to unseat three-term mayor Gary McCarthy.

Porterfield has been on the city council for more then ten years. She says the downtown area has seen some improvements the past few years but more attention needs to be focused on other neighborhoods.

The democrat claims the city is facing an alarming trend. “We are losing staff at city hall at a rapid rate”, said Porterfield. She adds, “Part of that is because of the leadership at city hall, when people leave they feel they are under appreciated, morale is very low and we need to keep those people in order to keep the progress going in the city of Schenectady.”

The democrat sat down with News10 to discuss the issues facing the city ahead of the Tuesday, June 27 primary.