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Mayor Jennings will leave behind some well-worn shoes to fill Times Union Copyright 2013 Times Union. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Published 8:47 pm, Saturday, May 18, 2013 AlbanyAs the story goes, a man crashed while sledding at Capital Hills Golf Course and went into Martel's Restaurant in the clubhouse to recuperate. He either passed out or nodded off, and when he opened his eyes he saw Jerry Jennings staring down at him. The man thought: I've died, and the first person to greet me in heaven is Albany's mayor.Such is the ubiquity of Jennings that the story, even if apocryphal, is true in spirit.Jennings, it seems, is everywhere.When Jennings announced last week that he would not run in the fall for a sixth term, the Times Union invited readers to submit photos of themselves with his mayorship. More than 80 images arrived within a day, and by week's end 6,200 people had clicked through the slideshow to see Jennings in tuxes at fundraisers, endlessly knotted into his signature shiny ties, open-collared at charity walks, with winning trainers and jockeys at Saratoga Race Course, holding babies, cutting ribbons, greeting crowds, tossing frozen turkeys, hugging nuns, hugging children, hugging tulip queens, his hair going from battleship to slate to pewter, his tan unvarying.Leaving the ultimate verdict on Jennings' mayoral accomplishments and shortcomings to political pundits and historians, one thing is clear and irrefutable: He believes his mandate to serve the citizens of Albany includes being out among them daily."People want to see you, and I want to show support," Jennings says."It's amazing how many places he manages to be," says Marcus Pryor, who is president of an Albany insurance agency and active with many civic and charitable organizations. Pryor estimates he runs into Jennings at an average of two events a week, sometimes for just a few minutes before Jennings heads off to make another stop."I've seen him two or three times in a single night as we're both running between different things," says Donna Purnomo of Yono's restaurant, which provides food for dozens of charity events each year. Purnomo is also on the board of Capital Repertory Theatre and a founder of Albany's Wine & Dine for the Arts festival, both of which Jennings has often supported by making appearances. Since he took office in January 1994, Jennings has maintained a grueling pace of being at an average of a dozen places every day, weekends included, says Pat Storm, who has been with Jennings and organized his schedule since the beginning. Storm also worked for Jennings' predecessor, Thomas M. Whalen III, who kept a much more moderate, regimented schedule. She says she was startled at first by the new mayor's determination to meet with as many people as wanted to see him, from a teen seeking a city job for the summer to whoever happened to be sitting in the governor's office just up the hill from City Hall. Jennings, she says, is equally determined to make it to every festival, business opening and arts event he can.Looking at the calendars for a couple of random recent days, Storm says, "There's eight things during the day one day, 10 the next, five more at night. I'd say that's about average." She adds, "Two Saturdays ago he had 15 things."Storm makes a large weekly schedule for Jennings, then prints out a daily page for him to carry, always with a few open slots for short-notice additions. "Something always dribbles in at the last minute, especially for Sundays," Storm says. "I've been backstage at Park Playhouse, waiting to go on to thank sponsors, and I think he's not coming because they said he was too busy," says Owen Smith, Park Playhouse's producing artistic director and managing director of the Palace Theatre. "Then I turn around and he's suddenly there, shaking hands with the cast, and he goes on stage and does the thank-yous himself."Adds Smith, "You can't get away from the guy — but why would you want to?"sbarnes@timesunion.com • 518-454-5489 • @Tablehopping • http://facebook.com/SteveBarnesFoodCritic

LeBrun: A mayor who rose to city's challenges Now that Jerry Jennings announced he'll retire at the end of the year as Albany's 74th mayor, the tendency is to speak of him in the past tense.As if his life is over. As if he couldn't possibly have anything more to say or do and now he should quietly disappear. As if we could write the last word about him right now. The simple truth is he had a lot of life before 13 years of service on the Common Council, and 20 years as the capital city's well-tanned mayor. By God's grace we hope he has a long and satisfying one still ahead. He's only 64. He's earned a rest, a change of direction. He could pleasantly surprise us again.Frankly, I'm amazed he lasted this long as mayor. Or put in another way, who in their right mind would give up their life to be mayor of Albany in these times? And say what you will about Jerry, and most of it would be true, he's in his right mind. Being the mayor of this city in the 21st century is a heavy lift every day, a daunting, depressing job trying to make ends meet while still providing a measure of hope and aspiration amid a downward spiral of increasing poverty and decreasing prospects.So this is not the right time to judge Jerry Jennings the public man. If you're dying to know what his friends really think of him, that will have to wait.And probably we're too close to his 20 years carrying the baton to put his administration and his imprint in proper perspective. About the best we can possibly do is post a few impressions of what his watch has brought us. Besides, he says he's not done, that he's still working on a convention center alternative.It's a complicated ledger he leaves behind.On balance, he has been far better for the city at this point in its history than many of us thought he would be, an entirely capable caretaker.He surprised us, rising to the challenge. His strong suits — an unquestionable love and devotion to his city, a terrific work ethic and a visceral understanding of Albany politics — worked miracles for him.He has the common touch, the charm, and, stemming from his years as a school administrator, I suspect, an empathy for the growing minority community that over the years became political gold.He got lucky early on. When he first took office as mayor, the most powerful politician in Albany was state Sen. Howard Nolan. Corning and O'Connell were gone. Nolan was Jennings' patron and protector.It became clear fairly early on that while the new mayor was a world-class glad-hander, a fabulous ribbon-cutter and an indefatigable campaigner, what he was not was an administrator. Jennings seemed utterly defeated by the bags of mail that came in every day, the flood of reports from department heads, and all the day-to-day nitty-gritty details of running a city. Nolan sent him a lawyer assistant in the person of Phil Calderone and the office of deputy mayor was created. It has been a brilliant collaboration that again on balance has worked surprisingly well. Phil will go down as one of the great unsung heroes of the city, not just for running the day-to-day operation during very difficult times, but for helping negotiate the tricky waters of labor contracts, guiding the city's perpetual finagling with the state over increasing and spinning up local aid in lieu of taxes, and advancing cultural and historic issues. Still, there's no mistaking who is in charge, It is Jerry Jennings' administration.Only he sets the agenda, and nothing happens without his sign off. That means what doesn't happen, what does not make the agenda, the connections that never happen, the missing vision and imagination that might uplift the Albany we know. The trademark taints of Smallbany, those are also on his doorstep. In many ways, his management style reflects those who were his early teachers and supporters, the hierarchy of the insular O'Connell-Corning political machine. Tightly controlled, top-down and vindictive. With one critical exception. What Jennings has not done over the years is nurture the organization that should be under him, giving him support. Call it a machine, call whatever you want. He hasn't taken care of the committees and wards — the worker bees. He has shown rather a disdain for that system, choosing instead to appeal directly to the voters. It's worked so far, but decreasingly so as voter enthusiasm has noticeably waned over time.In addition, the rap on Jerry Jennings is that politically he does not play well with others, that he chews through friends and supporters. It's always about Jerry. That's caught up with him, too.So when a 20-year mayor seeking a sixth term goes before the Albany Democratic Party's candidate selection committee recently and gets 6 of 13 votes — less than a ringing endorsement — a person in his right mind might give pause to at least weigh the odds and wonder what's the point.He's done his 20 years. Time to reinvent himself on his own terms, a rare privilege for a politician. Good for him.flebrun@timesunion.com • 518-454-5453