Fourth District: The election is a rematch between Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins and incumbent Democrat Khalid Bey, who won two years ago by fewer than 100 votes.
Hawkins, 60, said his top issue is the financial crisis that looms for Syracuse. To solve it, city officials should demand more revenue from the state, he said.Nobody at city hall - including Miner, despite her highly publicized squabbles with Gov. Andrew Cuomo - has demanded a return to the higher revenue-sharing levels that existed decades ago, Hawkins said.
"Nobody in the city - and they're all Democrats - seems to want to speak up to Cuomo,'' Hawkins said. "I'm independent. The Democrats can't do anything to me. I'm free to say what needs to be said.''
Bey, 42, said the solution to Syracuse's fiscal problems will only come from economic development and new job creation. Bey said he is working to help renew business corridors along South Salina Street and South Avenue, and to require developers to hire local workers when they get incentives from the city.
"The state and the feds are not in the business of bailing out municipalities anymore,'' Bey said. "It appears that my opponent is behind the times in that respect. We need to stop pawning off the responsibility for our management on somebody else.''
Hawkins, who has run for office at least 17 times, has strong name recognition. But he faces a daunting enrollment deficit, with only 99 Greens in the 4th District compared with 8,674 Democrats.
