The Post-Standard Monday, September 26, 2005 EDITION: Final SECTION: Local PAGE: B1 LENGTH:
SEAN KIRST POST-STANDARD COLUMNIST
Anyone expecting a dud of a mayoral campaign in Syracuse should have been at the StreetBuzz.TV studio Sunday at the downtown Galleries, where the four official candidates staged the second of what could be as many as 15 debates.
Jamille Howard, 16, a student moderator from Fowler High School, found herself serving as referee during raw exchanges between Democratic Mayor Matt Driscoll and Republican challenger Joanie Mahoney, who all but accused each other of lying.
At the same time, write-in candidate Jacob Roberts seemed nimble and at ease, while longtime activist Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate, gave the performance of his life. Based purely on demeanor, Hawkins probably won the thing, managing to come off as a quiet elder statesman while Driscoll and Mahoney tried to knock each other out.
The fireworks were touched off by questions about the schools and poverty and crime, the same questions that a Mahoney aide predicted will dominate the rest of the debates. If so, that would leave little room for talking about a related subject that may determine, more than anything, the future of the city:
Urban design.
Yes, urban design - the simple matter of how things get built and whether they're built right. If we're going to hold 15 debates, one of them should include questions from authorities at the school of architecture at Syracuse University or the Urban Design Center in Syracuse or the Preservation Association of Central New York.
Stage the debate in a conference room atop the Marx Hotel, where everyone could get a big view of the landscape and exactly what's at stake and give the candidates the chance to handle questions such as this:
"To start with, offer one example from the last 40 years in which you feel lousy planning in the city had a damaging effect on residents. Then give us an instance of a daring project from the same period that you feel lifted up the city around it.
"Drawing from those examples, what lessons of failure and success would you apply when considering future development?
"To be more specific: Many Eastwood neighbors seek big changes in the design of a Walgreens drugstore proposed for a major James Street gateway. Where do each of you stand in that dispute? When developers of look-alike chain stores want to demolish and rebuild within existing city fabric, what standards should they be required to meet?"
That would inevitably lead into Destiny USA, where the ongoing public argument focuses on whether Destiny's financing plan meets its commitments to the city. Sure, that's important, but many of us are more concerned about the project itself, which could be explored through these questions for candidates:
"Have you reviewed the blueprints for the first phase of Destiny? In a development made possible by profound taxpayer incentives, do you believe the physical design should encourage pedestrian flow and commercial "spinoff' into nearby neighborhoods?
"If so, do the plans uphold that standard? How? If most visitors park in an enormous garage, what might convince them to leave Destiny to explore Syracuse? What safeguards are in effect to discourage the "casino effect' that happened in Atlantic City and Niagara Falls, N.Y., where visitors eat and shop in those shining complexes but rarely spread their money around the greater city?
"For that matter, what are your thoughts on the long-term vision for Destiny? Do you support demolition to make room for a North Side convention center, fed by interstate arterials, as envisioned from time to time by Destiny planners? If not, have you thought about compromise alternatives?
"What effect do you believe Destiny will have on downtown Syracuse? How would you guarantee that existing downtown commerce benefits by connecting with such a massive new attraction? How would you make sure that many of Destiny's new employees choose to live in the city where they work?"
The next mayor will also set the course for a transportation issue with major repercussions: what to do about Interstate 81. State planners say the elevated downtown bridges for the interstate need to be razed or rebuilt within 20 years. Some observers, notably Common Councilor Van Robinson, say the bridges should be leveled and replaced with a landscaped, street-level boulevard.
To the candidates, then: "Give us your thoughts on the future of I-81 - and please, don't say that you want to study it. We need a gut-level response. Do you think the high-speed bridges should stay there to encourage civic commerce, or would you knock them down to eliminate a barrier between downtown and city neighborhoods?"
The questions all point to a city at a crossroads. Yet unless that particular debate happens soon, those issues might be lost amid the kind of noise we heard Sunday night, and we'll stumble through another Election Day without knowing how our next mayor would confront specific choices.
In Syracuse, that's no longer an acceptable design.
Sean Kirst is a columnist with The Post-Standard. His columns appear Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Call him at 470-6015 or e- mail him at citynews@syracuse.com
Posted by syracusegreens at September 26, 2005 11:59 PM