WATERVLIET, N.Y. (NEWS10) – Primary elections for many municipal offices are happening on June 27. One of the races is for Watervliet mayor. Democrat Timothy Cavanaugh is trying to unseat the democratic incumbent.

Cavanaugh is a retired employee of the city’s public works department. He spent 37 years working at the department and decided to run over the management style of the current mayor.

According to Cavanaugh, one of the biggest issues facing the city is absentee landlords. He claims many of them are from New York City or Boston and don’t care about the city of Watervliet.

“They really don’t care who they rent to,” said Cavanaugh. He adds those bad renters are becoming a problem, “one house like this in a good block will make several good people move out.” Cavanaugh says those homes need to be inspected.

Cavanaugh sat down with News10 to discuss the issues ahead of the Tuesday June 27th democratic primary.