TROY – They’re running for a seat on the Rensselaer County Legislature, but the focus for the two candidates at a debate Tuesday night was split between city issues and the county legislation pushed by Democrats.

Kim Ashe-McPherson, the Republican incumbent, and Democrat Carole Weaver are competing in the Nov. 6 election to complete the term of County Legislator Edward Manny, D-Troy, who died earlier this year. Manny was re-elected in 2017 to a four-year term as one of six legislators from District 1, which is the city of Troy.

The candidates spoke before 60 people at Russell Sage College in the debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Rensselaer County.

The city’s $160 garbage fee, slated to increase by $4 in Democratic Mayor Patrick Madden’s proposed 2019 budget, drew Ashe-McPherson’s strong opposition who labeled it a trash tax. Weaver, a former chair of the city Democratic Committee, countered that it was a solid waste management fee designed to increase residents’ commitment to recycling to reduce the amount of garbage collected.

Ashe-McPherson was appointed by the Republican-controlled county legislature this summer to fill Manny’s seat pending the outcome of the special election to fill the rest of his term. The five Democrats on the county legislature attempted to get Weaver appointed, but the Republican majority voted Ashe-McPherson into Manny’s vacant seat.

The two candidates agreed that there should be term limits for the county legislature. Troy's City Charter has set eight consecutive years as the maximum term for City Council members and the mayor.

When the candidates were asked about reducing the size of the 19-member county legislature, Ashe-McPherson criticized the five Democratic county legislators as not being active in reaching out to city voters. She said at one point she supported eliminating the city’s seats in favor of letting the rest of the county legislature represent the city. Weaver said legislators have to reach out but criticized Ashe-McPherson’s comments about doing away with the city’s seats.

Weaver supported Democrats’ proposals to raise the age limit locally to 21 for purchasing electronic cigarettes. Ashe-McPherson said there should be a greater effort on educating people about their dangers.

When it came to Democratic efforts to end Republican Sheriff Patrick Russo’s participation in a federal program to turn incarcerated undocumented immigrants over to the federal government, the two candidates said it shouldn’t be used to check on people outside the county jail.

Ashe-McPherson of Lansingburgh formerly served as an at-large City Council member before the new City Charter abolished the position as of the 2017 election. Ashe-McPherson defeated Weaver of South Troy in that 2015 election when the Democrats were split into two factions.

The Republicans have not won a county legislature seat in Troy since 2005. Since then, the Democrats have won every election for the city’s six county legislature seats in both general and special elections.

Weaver is running on the Democratic, Working Families and Women’s Equality parties' lines. Ashe-McPherson appears on the Republican, Conservative, Independence and Reform parties' lines.

In the only other county legislature race, incumbent Charles J. Peter, R-Schodack, is running unopposed in District 4. The seat was previously held by Assemblyman Jake Ashby, R-Schodack, who left the county legislature earlier this year when he was elected to the Assembly in a special election.