ALBANY COMMON COUNCIL AGENDA RIPE FOR CONTROVERSY MCARDLE IN SPOTLIGHT ON GAY RIGHTS BILL.(Capital Region)

Byline: JAY JOCHNOWITZ Staff writer

Three centuries of tradition in this city may be broken tonight as the possibility looms of a tie vote in the Common Council on a gay rights bill.

As of Sunday, with the 15-member Common Council one member short, seven aldermen appeared likely to vote for the measure, while five were stacked against it, leaving two swing votes.

That could give Common Council President Stephen J. McArdle, whose role for years has largely been ceremonial and who was planning to quit politics when his term expires next year, the responsibility for casting the deciding vote on one of the most volatile issues facing the city in recent …