Syracuse City Eagle
The pollsters say the campaign for Syracuse mayor is a virtual dead heat between Republican Joanie Mahoney and Democrat Matthew Driscoll, with Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins taking a small - but important - percentage of the vote. With less than a week to go before election day, the City Eagle posed five questions for the candidates focused on issues at the heart of the debate. The following is their response.
Question: Recent assessment test results show the Syracuse City School District has made marginal improvements in the past year. What can the office of mayor do to continue that trend? What goals would you place on the school district during the next mayoral term?
Driscoll: The academic goals and oversight of the Syracuse City School District is the responsibility of the publicly elected School Board, this is mandated by the City Charter. However, the Driscoll administration is the first Mayor in years that has increased revenue to the School District by over $10 million. That is why the Syracuse Teachers Association has endorsed Mayor Driscoll for re-election. In addition, the Mayor has sent a letter to the School Board asking that the new Superintendent outline a plan to address the drop-out rate, detail a strategy for in-school security and to expedite the consolidation of the fianancial management systems of the School District and the City in order that fiscal efficiencies can be identified and redirected back to the classrooms.
Mahoney: As Mayor, I'll work to restore high academic achievement in students. We'll expect high standards for faculty and staff, develop an effort to reduce the number of school dropouts, raise the level of student discipline by removing disruptive students from traditional academic settings, develop a district-wide mentoring program by reaching out to the area's business, academic and government communities, and recreate a neighborhood school system.
I will improve the efficiency of school district operations by merging like functions with the city and will ensure equality of opportunity at every city school by tracking resource allocation and student performance measures. I'll also advance investment in city school infrastructure and move forward with a technical education track for interested students at the former Central High School.
Hawkins: School finance reform should be the mayor's first priority for the schools. The taxes should be fair, the distribution formula should be transparent, and the revenues should be increased and predictable so the school district can plan and budget without annual crises over how much money the city and state might provide. At the state level, I would work with our state delegation for a system of fair, transparent, and predictable funding to replace the current state formula that is so inequitable that it has been ruled unconstitutional by New York's highest court. In the city, I would shift the burden of school funding from Syracuse's limited property tax base to a more broadly based and progressively graduated city income tax, including a tax on the incomes of the over 40,000 commuters to the city. Without a plan for school finance reform, talk about improving school performance is just talk.
Q: Redevelopment of Syracuse's downtown continues to take place, but at a rate that is not fast enough for some. What policies should be instituted to speed up the revitalization of downtown Syracuse as a residential, retail, recreational and commercial hot spot? What proposed projects should be given special attention?
Driscoll: The statistics put forth by 20/20 and the Syracuse Chamber of Commerce contradict this question's assertion. The Chamber of Commerce stated that retail space downtown is rented at its highest rate in years and that downtown apartment and condo rental space has a waiting list. In addition, new announcements have recently been made regarding five new housing projects. The Mizpah Towers is currently being reconstructed into a hotel and condominium site and the Hotel Syracuse has unveiled plans to the Downtown Committee for Hotel, condominium and meeting space accommodations. Other developments include the Amos Building bordering Clinton Square, the Willows on Clinton Street and the Montgomery Street multi-use project. The single most important factor that will speed up additional downtown investment is the relocation of the Centro Bus transfer station at Fayette and South Salina. My administration has convened meetings that brought together all the players needed to accomplish this. An announcement of the new location should be forthcoming soon.
Mahoney: I'll create a 24-hour downtown by transforming our center city into a regional center of arts, culture and entertainment. I have proposed the creation of a "Lofts District" along South Salina Street to restore the upper floors of Syracuse's "Main Street" buildings and provide more affordable "creative class" residential/work spaces downtown. I will build upon current infrastructure to better link and support existing arts and cultural institutions and have suggested recruiting New York City-based theater and dance companies to establish lower-cost summer and off-season rehearsal operations in Syracuse.
As Mayor, I'll advance stalled downtown projects, including the Amos Building redevelopment, downtown parking concerns, the Centro Common Center, and the development of a Convention Center Hotel. I will undertake a new effort to work with downtown companies to ensure their continued commitment and location in the central business district, especially Excellus, Hartford Insurance, Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield and National Grid.
Hawkins: I would withdraw tax-free status for Destiny USA, which creates a highly subsidized competitor to retail and entertainment businesses downtown. I would create a city-owned bank with a business development department that can draw up a business plan, arrange financing, hire management and staff, train and advise the new business as it gets up and running, and then sell the assets to the new business so it is community-owned as a owner-operated small business or, for larger businesses, as a worker cooperative or a community corporation where voting shares are restricted to city residents (like the Green Bay Packers). The city-owned bank would develop a cooperative supermarket for the working people who live downtown in the high-rises and public housing. I would establish two dedicated taxes to fund arts and culture downtown, a 25-cent tax on each entertainment ticket sold and a 1 percent tax on new construction costs.
Q: What can the office of mayor do to improve the many distinct neighborhoods within the city of Syracuse? Do you believe neighborhood protection outweighs economic development concerns, or vice versa?
Driscoll: The successful rehabilitation of our neighborhoods must include a multi-use design plan that is supported by the residents and allows for future development of both residential and commercial projects. That is why my administration spearheaded and completed the first Comprehensive Plan since 1918. This plan was devised with outside professional oversight and with the cooperation and input of neighborhood groups and the Syracuse Common Council, along with the Syracuse Onondaga County Planning Agency.
Mahoney: First and foremost, I'll empower residents and strengthen neighborhood networks. Unlike the current administration, I'll add value to the city's TNT neighborhood planning process.
I'll expand investment in city neighborhoods and create neighborhoods where people want to live by supporting the efforts of the Syracuse Neighborhood Initiative. We'll ensure that city neighborhoods are clean and attractive and create livable neighborhoods by constructing biking trails, investing in city parks, adding to open green space, and developing walkable, pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods and neighborhood business districts.
I'll strike a balance between neighborhood protection and entrepreneurial opportunity. I'll develop and update "Main Street" commercial district plans within individual neighborhoods in the city, including Westcott, West Genesee Street corridor, South Salina corridor, downtown, University Hill, Northside and Eastwood, and consider the creation of Business Improvement Districts in areas where they currently do not exist. We'll address these concerns and establish parameters for a development.
Hawkins: I would replace the eight big, merely advisory TNT sectors with empowered Neighborhood Assemblies in each of the 25 or so real neighborhoods with which residents identify. The Neighborhood Assemblies would be grassroots legislatures, face-to-face direct democracies like New England Town Meetings where every resident has a voice and a vote. They would plan neighborhood development, guide the delivery of city services in their neighborhoods, and elect neighborhood representatives to Common Council, the school board, and other citywide commissions. When protection of existing neighborhood characteristics conflicts with a proposed economic development, powerful government and corporate leaders should not be allowed to impose a centralized decision on a neighborhood. Neighborhood-directed development by the Neighborhood Assemblies would empower the people in their neighborhoods decide democratically what development they want - or don't want - in their neighborhoods, as long as their decisions do not violate civil rights and environmental laws.
Q: What needs to be done to make Syracuse's neighborhoods safer and to curb the influx of drugs and related violence in the city of Syracuse? What issue will you make your top law enforcement priority if elected mayor?
Driscoll: The Driscoll administration was the first administration that acknowledged the problem of organized gangs in our City. We created a strategy that combined the efforts of the District Attorney's office, the U.S. Attorney's office and local law enforcement agencies. We successfully disbanded two of the most notorious gangs resulting in federal convictions of gang leaders. Operation Impact, a combined law enforcement drug strategy is currently in place in our neighborhoods and is extremely successful. In addition, we have deployed Crime Reduction Teams that target specific neighborhood activity. The number one issue of my administration is public safety and we have demonstrated our commitment to this by hiring 50 new police officers that are on neighborhood foot patrols.
Mahoney: Syracuse needs a strong response that includes both law enforcement and prevention. As executive order number one, I'll step up City Hall's effort to stamp out poverty, bringing all available resources to the table and working to better coordinate ongoing pubic, private and not-for-profit activities.
On the enforcement side, I've pledged to restore the police officer positions the current mayor eliminated ... and add even more. I've proposed establishing a more permanent police presence in our neighborhoods by opening precinct offices and creating a 311 line within the Onondaga County E-911 Center to address non-emergency calls for police service and improve emergency response times. Finally, I'll extend the city's successful Weed and Seed program in the near westside and northside neighborhoods currently set to expire.
Hawkins: We need to greatly expand youth recreation and job programs to attack the roots of crime and violence in poverty, alienation, and hopelessness. It costs us more to incarcerate offenders after the crimes have been committed than to provide opportunities upfront. We need to provide young adults and ex-offenders with living-wage jobs in public works and service meeting unmet community needs to the extent living-wage jobs in the private sector are not available. For younger kids, supervised recreation programs should be available to all who need them in our parks and schools after school, evenings, weekends, and summers. The top law enforcement priority should be community policing where the same officers work the same neighborhoods and help residents to prevent crime, reduce the fear of crime, and improve the quality of life. The next contract with the police union should require officers to participate in Citizen Review Board hearings.
Q: Syracuse's population continues to get smaller and older. What will you do to curb population decline and make the city of Syracuse more attractive to younger residents.
Driscoll: The decline in City population is not unique to Syracuse. This is a regional and countywide trend. The loss of manufacturing sector industries over the last 30 years is the genesis of this migration. Another factor is the suburban sprawl that goes unchecked in the county. Careful planning must be a combined effort by the City and the County. However, due to the "boomer" trend of empty nesters moving to the City for condo living and the new urban dwellers of a new generation, the City is experiencing a surge of new downtown living quarters and first time homebuyers in City neighborhoods. Finally, the change from a manufacturing base to a technological one has transformed the job market. Syracuse sets the pace in this new transformation statewide and this is shown in Syracuse's staticts in job growth. Just this week the Syracuse Chamber of Commerce acknowledged 194 businesses that expanded either in employees or building expansion.
Mahoney: I'll jump-start stalled economic development projects and provide new job opportunities, develop internship programs for students enrolled in area colleges and universities to tap into talent and demonstrate that local career prospects do exist, and work with area business and development entities to promote niche industries and new entrepreneurial opportunities.
And I'll work to make downtown Syracuse a 24-hour center of arts, entertainment and activity by establishing new residential spaces and transforming its overall feel.
Hawkins: I will implement our Sustainable Syracuse development strategy to create economic opportunities and recreational and cultural attractions for young and old alike. See our vision map, drawings, and working paper at www.syracusegreens.org. Instead of 30 years tax free for a one-third addition to Carousel Mall (giving the original two-thirds 45 years tax free) and a phony Erie Canal, we'll re-dig the real Erie Canal from the lake, through downtown, and out Erie Boulevard to create an east-west corridor of waterfront property primed for development. We'll network the city with Greenways for light rail trolleys and bike and pedestrian paths. We'll apply green technologies throughout the city - not just to the mall. We'll create $40,000 a year jobs in ecological manufacturing - not just $14,000 a year retail jobs at the mall. We'll put our own people in business through widespread community ownership - not just one big corporate empire at the mall.
Posted by syracusegreens at November 3, 2005 10:40 PM