Candidates: Matt Driscoll, Democrat; Joanie Mahoney, Republican; Howie Hawkins, Green
Topic: Low-interest loan program for home repairs
Driscoll asked for SUN's continued help in continuing effort to restore federal Community Development Block Grant cuts. The city has been replacing lost federal money with local dollars, he said. Home HeadQuarters mini-grants are available; 251 grants have been made in SUN areas on the South Side.
Mahoney said she would continue to be an advocate with federal representatives to bring federal money to Syracuse. She promised to "reprioritize" when federal money is reduced, cutting spending on items that do not directly affect the neighborhoods, such as the mayor's Media Center.
Hawkins said he would change city financing through tax reform, including a graduated income tax, a commuter tax and property tax based on assessment of land, not improvements. He also would set up a city-owned bank "that would lend to our communities without discrimination and be a yardstick for the other banks . . ."
Topic: Stopping gun violence
Besides acting to suppress gang activity and youth violence, officials formed the Violence Intervention and Prevention Program "to provide preventative measures for young people and their families" to end youth violence and address poverty, Driscoll said. Rebutting Mahoney, he said experts from other cities come to Syracuse to observe the VIPP and that police employment fell because of federal program cuts.
Gun violence is at epidemic proportions; clearly we are not having an impact, Mahoney said. She would ask experts in other communities what they have done to address gun violence. A program that preceded VIPP "was having a real impact" and shouldn't have been changed, she said. She credited Driscoll for acknowledging the gang problem, then asked why he reduced the number of police officers.
Violence rises with unemployment and poverty, so the city must address those problems, Hawkins said. His proposed city-owned bank would have a development arm to help people start businesses. Youth recreation programs must be expanded, he said. He also called for community policing, where each neighborhood has its own detail of officers to work with it.
Topic: County sewage treatment plan
Driscoll said he has been fighting the county plan since 1998, calling it the wrong technology for families, health and the environment. "I do not intend to let them have the Trolley Lot (behind Armory Square). I do not intend to let them move downstream towards the other neighborhoods."
Mahoney said she supported neighbors while on the Common Council. "The truth of the matter right now, though, is that the sewage treatment plant is being built. And I think this comes down to a question of leadership and style. . . . I have a proven ability to work in a bipartisan fashion."
"There's a time to stand up and not let something be shoved down your throat that you don't want, and that's what we've got to do in this case," Hawkins said. He called for biological treatment of sewage, producing fuel and putting treated waste "in a swamplike environment" to grow crops and produce drinkable water.
Staff writer John Mariani
© 2005 The Post-Standard. Used with permission.
Posted by syracusegreens at October 28, 2005 07:45 PM