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SCHENECTADY
Sparky’s death leaves mayor’s race with only human candidates in it
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

   The city’s only feline mayoral candidate has died, Kathy Fitzmaurice said Tuesday.
   Sparky the Cat died Monday of apparent kidney failure, she said.
   But his death won’t stop his informal campaign for mayor, which inspired a dozen businesses to hang “Sparky for Mayor” signs in their windows this summer.
   “We still would like to see a spark in Schenectady. I intend to keep the signs up,” Fitzmaurice said. “The spirit of Sparky lives.”
   Sparky’s write-in campaign was mostly tongue-in-cheek. Fitzmaurice hoped it would encourage more levity in the city and prove whether the city’s human mayoral candidates have a sense of humor.
   (From their reactions, it appears they do — Republican challenger Michael Cuevas cheerfully said he’d court the bird and dog vote if animals are joining the constituency, while Democratic Mayor Brian U. Stratton said he wouldn’t pussyfoot around and that he admired Sparky, a political unknown, for clawing his way to the top.)
   Fitzmaurice said the campaign was funny enough that it could still make her smile on Tuesday, despite Sparky’s death.
   “I was very attached. I’ve lost a co-worker and a friend,” she said, adding with a chuckle, “and our cutest mayoral candidate.”
   Sparky, 9 1 /2, was only sick for the last few weeks of his life, when he declined rapidly, she added.
   Until then, he was a constant presence in the Katbird Shop, Fitzmaurice’s art and gift shop on Liberty Street in downtown Schenectady.
   Voters could still write in Sparky’s name on November’s ballot. He would hardly be the fi rst politician to be elected after his death, although of course Sparky would not have been able to accept a win even if still alive. Animals still cannot take office, a rule that Fitzmaurice secretly supported during her cat’s campaign.
   Even she quietly agreed that her cat would probably not be the best choice for mayor.
   “He doesn’t seem to take too much interest in finances, but he certainly would make a very cute mayor,” she said.

Sparky the cat, shown here at the Katbird Shop on Liberty Street in July, has died.

  
  
  

God Bless you, Sparky.  And I STILL say that even a DEAD cat can do a better job than some of the people that have been running this place.

I agree BK, rest in peace Sparky.

You both said it well.....ditto for me

sniff sniff.....the world is now darker....  

Sparky was our only hope!! At least Sparky is in a better place.

Quoted from bumblethru

Sparky was our only hope!! At least Sparky is in a better place.

If only the rest of us could be in a better place...