Village mayor caught in crossfire

RAVENA, N.Y. _ Seeking re-election in this small community, Mayor William Misuraca thought he'd be dealing mostly with basic issues like water and sewer systems and other village services.

Instead, because of a viral video about a raccoon's death, he's dealing with death threats, vitriolic emails and Facebook diatribes from all over the world. What's more, the professed animal lover said, the criticism is misdirected.

Misuraca is being targeted by a social media assault triggered by the images of two town of Coeymans police cars chasing the rabid animal in the village of Ravena for 15 minutes until they hit and killed it.

"I love animals and don't want to see any animal suffer, but I've gotten hateful messages from seven different countries and from all over America," Misuraca said.

Misuraca's nickname is Moose. Cartoon moose adorn his campaign posters. Just last month, he thought he would be talking to voters about plans for updating village water and sewer lines in the run-up to Tuesday's race. Instead, people keep asking him why he can't fire the Coeymans cops who killed the raccoon.

It's important to note one of the police cars was inscribed with the word "Coeymans," the town in which Ravena is situated. The other car was an unmarked Coeymans cruiser.

"Ravena doesn't have its own police force, so I don't oversee the Coeymans police, and I have no authority over them," he said. "The Coeymans Town Board has authority over those police officers, so would the town supervisor. Ravena has an arrangement that allows our village to rely on Coeymans police services. But all I can do about the raccoon now is make my concerns clear and try to get questions answered."

On his official mayor's Facebook page, he says the raccoon video was "sad and heartbreaking to watch. As an animal lover, I do not condone or agree with any of the actions depicted. But that is where my jurisdiction ends."

He advised that people with concerns send their messages to the town of Coeymans. An attempt to contact Supervisor Philip Crandall was unsuccessful.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation is investigating the raccoon killing, and animal cruelty investigators from the Albany County district attorney's office have asked to assist.

Coeymans police have said they did not shoot the raccoon because it was not in a place where they could safely use their guns. The raccoon was near a Shop Rite grocery store and restaurant. Police said the animal tried to enter a business.

The raccoon video overshadows what appears to be much more civil politics in this village of about 3,300 residents.

Challenging the Republican incumbent is Democrat Martin Case, a retired schoolteacher who has 12 years of experience on Ravena's board. When he accepted the party's nomination in February, he told the caucus that nominated him, "This shows that the Democratic Party is alive and well in Ravena, and that gives me hope."

The Times Union called Case's home for an interview, but his wife said her husband was out knocking on doors and did not own a cellphone, so she could not track him down.

Two Democratic challengers for village trustee, Linda Muller and Mary Ellen Rosato, could not be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, the Republican incumbents for village trustee, Keith Mahler, Jr. and Joel Coye, were wishing for another record-breaking voter turnout.

"Three years ago, we had over 900 people vote," said Coye, who wants to create a master plan for replacing what he calls "ancient water and sewer pipes," some of which date back to the 19th century.

Mahler says one of his goals is improving Ravena's parks. He said that he's been best friends with Mayor Misuraca since the two buddies were 10 years old.

"We would hang out at a little family restaurant that the mayor now owns," said Mahler. "We grew up here and when we run for office, there's no huge fundraisers or major donors. We pay for our signs and we run because this is a good place to live and we can make it better."

lyedwards(at)timesunion.com - 518-454-5403