Grains of Salt (v53): Community Gridlock (Pt. 3)

Part 1 of this Grains of Salt series provided some history on the I-81 project and discussed Justice Gerard Neri's decision to prevent work on the viaduct but allow work on turning I-481 into I-81. 

Part 2  looked at the Micron project implications, even though that project didn't exist until long after planning for the viaduct removal had been done.

Today, some final thoughts.

Economic development considerations.

• What if the Destiny USA developers suddenly make a few billion on crypto and decide to build the whole Erie Canal/golf course/theme park thing? Would Neri or another judge require a new "anticipated population and traffic growth" study? 

• What about the new $85M aquarium project, and its promised half a million visitors? Should we postpone replacing the viaduct until we get a separate traffic study for that? 

• And if a currently unforeseen major project when the Micron projections are underway, would that trigger a complete stop and restart? Or, can the new project be a supplement to the supplemental EIS? And who owns that decision?

Legal questions. 

• What, if anything, will prevent some other aggrieved party from filing the next delaying lawsuit? 

• Are we soon going to see ads for this project based on the "abused by a priest?" or "did you drink the water at Camp Lejeune?" approach? I can see them now: 

Do you like speeding through the city of Syracuse on the I-81 viaduct?  Are you against having to get up earlier to get to work? Hate having to drive through Dewitt? Are you a fan of a giant viaduct soaring high above the city's streets?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you might be an Aggrieved Party eligible to file a lawsuit to prevent the I-81 viaduct removal project from going forward! Call now!

It won't cost you a thing if we don't win!

• Let's say someone, with the benefit of 15 years of study and tens of thousands of public comments, determines that a tunnel would now be scientifically and economically feasible. Is that a valid reason for a new lawsuit and review?

• After review of the supplemental EIS, let's say Neri or someone else decides we need the Harriet Tubman skybridge viaduct. Will there then be a whole series of discussions on the best design for the skybridge? And if someone doesn't like the answer, can they sue to have the decision reconsidered?

• Who gets to decide who it gets named after? I mean, sure, Harriet Tubman is an icon, but what about Donald 'Nobody in the History of this Country Has Ever Known More about Infrastructure Than Me' Trump? He's an icon, too - can I sue to have it named after him, or maybe after Barack Obama? What's more iconic than being the first - and likely only - Black president in our country's history?

Helpful studies.

• Can we demand northern business corridor merchants commission a study to determine what would happen if they spent money advertising their businesses, instead of relying on free newspaper coverage and endless lawsuits? Where is the comprehensive marketing study on how exit ramp signage, billboards, TV/radio, print, and online ads could be used to help drive customers to these businesses, whether they use the grid and the original I-81 footprint north of the grid, new I-81, or a combo of I-81, I-690, and BR-81? 

• Can we demand those businesses provide detailed sales and occupancy data, including where the customers came from and the route they traveled, and have that independently audited? Let's be sure to look at pre- and post-pandemic data so we know whether they're really going to be impacted by the community grid. This should be required ahead of the NYSDOT doing a supplemental EIS.

• Similarly, can we demand comprehensive impact data from the eastern and southwestern suburbs?  Not just barstool stuff and fear-mongering, but actual data on the specific impacts? This, too, should be required ahead of any NYSDOT supplemental EIS.

If you're asking why anyone should be able to force private companies and suburban communities to provide this kind of data, here's a better question: why can private companies and suburban communities repeatedly force the state to spend our tax dollars jumping through their endless hoops? 

At what point does this end?

From what we've seen, it ends when there's a decision to stop the community grid, unnecessarily tear down dozens of buildings, and erect a massive viaduct that towers over the city. 

It ends when proposed development and investment in Syracuse - technology, housing, business, education, health, and more - are ground to a halt.

It ends only with a decision that defies the wishes of most residents who'd have to live with the monstrosity and those in the greater Syracuse area who cared enough to comment before the community grid decision was made.

It ends when the naysayers win.

One last thing about winning.

In 2018, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh gave his first State of the City address. Here's part of what he said about how we could all win with the I-81 project.

Instead of pitting our communities against each other, what if we stood together, unified, with a plan that creates wins for all of our communities? I believe the decision before us can and should be a source of deeper collaboration and a way to reconnect the economic interests of our City and our suburbs. 

Wouldn't it be great if that had actually happened? 

Grains of Salt (v52): Syracuse's New Police Union Contract

Residency requirements. Leadership incentives. Longevity increases. Incentives for veterans, bilingual officers, and those with higher levels of education. 

These are the changes in the new Syracuse Police Department contract that's been approved by the rank and file, and is pending approval by the Syracuse Common Council. 

I have to say, I was excited that we even got to talk about this kind of thing in the negotiations, and thrilled that the union has agreed to the contract, which I anticipate will be passed by the Council. 

In Chris Baker's article from The Post-Standard | syracuse.com, we learn how this all came to be: an agreement on what the goals were, before the two sides even started talking about specific language. 

Frank Caliva, the city’s chief administrative officer, said the negotiation process, which was about six months long, was unlike many previous contract settlements. The two sides agreed to a series of objectives before deciding on specific contract points.

This is particularly important, given the relationship between Chief Kenton Buckner and union president Jeff Piedmonte and the rank and file.

I've long felt that city employees, particularly teachers, firemen, and police, should be required to live in the city. I grew up understanding that this was the right thing to do, with parents who passed on buying a house they loved because it was just outside the school district where my Dad taught. Instead, they lived in the village, and we grew up with a bunch of other kids who had parents with the same crazy idea.

There were consequences from that decision. Our house got egged a couple of times at Halloween; if memory serves, there was one year where no costumes were involved, so Dad knew who did it.  The kids knew he knew, and the eggs got washed off the house pretty quickly. My brothers and I took a little heat from other kids sometimes, people telling us Dad was a jerk and mean; and frequently we were asked for help on tests and stuff like that, as were the children of the French teacher, and the business teacher, and the science teacher, and the math teacher, and the English teacher. We all survived.

Now, I'm not suggesting that the potential threats to police officers and their families aren't greater than the potential threats to a social studies teacher and an elementary school teacher (my mom also taught in the same district) - but the benefits of having a police officer in the neighborhood, in the community, in the park, with their kids on Pop Warner teams and so on, are significantly greater than 'just' having a teacher down the block.

So, yes, I'm delighted that the next class of officers graduating from the SPD's academy will have to find a place to live in the city within six months of graduation, and meet the same residency requirement that our firefighters do. Honestly, I hope one moves into my neighborhood the next time there's a house for sale.

And I hope that officers will take advantage of the other contract provisions, including the longevity and leadership bumps, so that we don't lose our best people as soon as they become eligible for their pensions. We need to keep the good ones, and incentivizing them to stay is a good start.

Another thing that everyone's working on? Getting young people onto the force. In another of Baker's articles, we learn that the city's seeking state money to help build a program to get kids who are interested in becoming police officers into non-officer positions with the SPD. First Deputy Chief Joe Cecile pointed out the issue they hope to resolve.

At 18 you said you want to be a police officer, but we lost touch with you until you're 20 and a half. We're trying to fix that by bringing them on the department, giving them a job learning the department. 

The program, which will be housed at the SCSD's Fowler Public Service Leadership Academy (PSLA),  appears to expand upon the school's existing law enforcement education programs.

Another potential benefit? Improving the diversity of the force, which is not where it should be, based on the makeup of our community as a whole.

I'm hopeful about these changes, as I have been about many of the other positive changes we've seen with new leadership in the city and the county. This is exactly the kind of thing we need to be thinking about, and collaborating on, in order to move things forward.

The Update Desk: Vending Machine Tax Breaks (Again)

Time for another update on the section 485-a tax exemption New York State offers to developers of historic buildings.

That's the one that's designed to get historic buildings repurposed into mixed use properties and back on the tax rolls. Here's the chronology of my posts on this subject, starting with this Meanwhile Back in Albany post back in July 2018.

Got a vending machine? Get a tax break!  Wouldn't that make a great billboard along the highways leading into all of the cities, towns and villages in upstate New York, instead of those silly signs we have on the Thruway?

Can you imagine anything so silly? Of course you can - it's economic development incentives we're talking about, and we're in New York.

State law created the tax break to help turn old and underused buildings into the kinds of places that filled downtowns in the old days. The idea was to restore the buildings with upper-floor apartments and street-level businesses - restaurants, offices and stores - to bring back the bustle of urban life.  

For Copper Beech Commons, vending machines did the trick. Without the tax break the owner would pay $560,000 a year in property taxes. With the vending machine incentive, the annual bill comes to less than $33,000.  

There were 39 properties in Syracuse getting the 12-year exemptions, the first eight years of which are fully exempt. Many of the properties here do have legitimate commercial enterprises, located in renovated historic properties - others, however, don't have commercial space and/or are in brand new properties built on land where historic structures were demolished.

In August of 2018, I had my first update on this, talking about Copper Beech Commons again.

A small office at the property has been cleaned up, with new doors added, to try and entice a small business to lease the space and preserve the tax break. Why? Well, as city assessment commissioner David Clifford noted,

Vending machines are not a commercial use, especially when they're owned and operated by the building owner. As far as I'm concerned, that's just like having a washing machine in the basement.

The assessors last warned the developer that the vending machines did not count for the exemption four or five years ago, so there should have been no surprise that there could be problems once the last (and only) tenant of the space moved out in 2015.

I wished the developer well in finding a tenant, but

More importantly, I hope we can count on city officials to consistently be good stewards of our tax dollars, and that our legislators can find a way to correct these 'good ideas gone bad' laws...

In the second update, I let you know that the NYS Assembly passed a bill submitted by local Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli to cut opportunities for abuses.  Among the changes?

• limits on the commercial purposes and uses that can quality, and they must be publicly accessible;
• at least 75% of the floor area of an eligible building must be a pure-existing structure;

• annual certification of properties to ensure the developer is in compliance; and

• revoking the tax benefits of non-compliant properties, as well as penalties if someone makes a material misstatement on their application for the tax break.

 And today, we learned (again from reporting by Knauss) that the Syracuse Common Council took action:

The council voted unanimously to amend local law by giving the assessor more explicit authority to reject applications for the so-called 485-a exemption, which the city first adopted in 2010. The amendment specifically aims to exclude projects that involve demolishing old building to make way for new construction. 

You know - projects like those brand new luxury student apartments, for which the developers get around $4M a year in 485-a tax breaks.

The amended Syracuse law says the assessment office should "narrowly construe" the 485-a exemption by excluding "projects that primarily consists of demolition of the existing real property (i.e. 60% or more of the existing building.)"

The second measure passed by the council Monday asks state legislators to further clarify the law on 485-a exemptions. 

This is a good step, even though it will only apply to new development, not the existing abusive properties. Mayor Ben Walsh is said to support the legislation; but won't make a final decision on the bill until after an upcoming public hearing.

Now, if the State Senate can get it passed (fingers crossed), we'll get this fixed for good.

Grains of Salt (v49): Syracuse Partners with SU on Data Analytics

Continuing the collaboration that is the hallmark of Mayor Ben Walsh's administration, the city of Syracuse and Syracuse University have a new agreement on data-sharing.

The agreement, reported in the Daily Orange, will allow SU students access to municipal data on which they can perform analytics and hopefully identify opportunities.

The article recaps emails with Sam Edelstein,the city's chief data officer, who advised that select data will be shared with the students. The city both collects and creates data, he said, and added

We know that students get great experience working with real data like the types that we collect - and we get the benefit of experts helping us to make sense of the information.

The Common Council approved the agreement at the end of July, after discussion privacy concerns. Councilor Khalid Bey was one who expressed concern, as noted in this report from WRVO.

I'm certainly a person that's for creativity and innovation, but we have to be careful about being creative at the expense of the taxpayer. Hackers are very good. We learned that. I want us to be a little more clear about what we're doing. I can see the value of the exchange. But I thought the downplay on our concerns with security, relative to the data, was a little negligent. 

Even though Edelstein said much of the information is already made public, or could be -  most of it comes from infrastructure projects - Bey is right to be concerned, and the city should take privacy concerns seriously. It's particularly timely, given the recent ransomware attacks on both the Syracuse City School District and the Onondaga County Public Library systems.

No one benefits when these concerns are downplayed, certainly not the administration.

SU will receive only copies of the data, via the cloud, not access to the systems where the data is stored. Edelstein said the city will choose the data carefully, and "is sensitive about what data is presented, especially if it contains personally identifiable information." The Common Council should request regular updates from Edelstein on this.

How might city taxpayers benefit from the new collaboration? Edelstein mentioned dashboards for individual city departments are a possibility' these could complement the city's Performance Dashboard, which gives a whole-city look at things like financial and neighborhood stability and service delivery. l'll talk more about the Dashboard in another post.

I agree with Edelstein on the bottom line here. Again, from the WRVO article,

We just have a lot of information and we're going to collect a lot more of it in the coming years. We will never have the staff to be able to analyze all of it and make the decisions  that we need to make. Tapping into expertise and resources at the university is kind of a no-brainer to me. 

The goal is to have the project up and running this fall.

Grains of Salt (v45): The I-81 DEIS is Here

Grains of Salt

The long-awaited New York State Department of Transportation Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the I-81 viaduct project is finally here.

After months and months of fits and starts, including a call for a do-over from our Sonofa Gov Andrew Cuomo to consider a tunnel option, we now have the recommendation from the state, and they believe a community grid is the best option for the Central New York area.

Here's what the DEIS says on the proposed solution:

S.5.3 COMMUNITY GRID ALTERNATIVE / PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE Based on a balanced consideration of the need for safe and efficient transportation; the social, economic, and environmental effects of the project alternatives; and national, state, and local environmental protection goals, the Community Grid Alternative would be selected as the preferred alternative. FHWA and NYSDOT will consider all comments received on this DDR/DEIS. 

That's the answer that we've been waiting for here in the city - I don't think any of my city friends wanted anything but the grid; even a number of my non-city friends are grid supporters, as are a number of suburban folks who spoke at the listening session Rep. John Katko held in the city and in the three suburban meetings he held.

And while all of the Town Supervisors and the Republican-majority County Legislature supported a hybrid grid/tunnel combo, that was nixed , as were all of the other tunnel and depressed highway solutions in the DEIS.

Potential Alternative T-7 involves the construction of a high-speed, non-interstate tunnel in addition to all of the improvements associated with the Community Grid Alternative. The construction of Alternative T-7 largely would be implemented underground, using a tunnel boring machine and sequential excavation method. While there are some risks associated with all underground construction, the use of these conventional and known tunneling methods would allow the alternative to pass on constructability. Alternative T-7 would require the acquisition of 11 properties and would cost $2.5 billion, both of which are considered unreasonable. For these reasons, Alternative T-7 was dismissed from further consideration. 

Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh released this statement:

I am very glad that the DEIS is out, and I’m pleased that it identifies the Community Grid as the preferred alternative. The DEIS is the most comprehensive source for the facts and data our community needs to evaluate the project. My team and I will be closely reviewing the report in the days and weeks ahead, and the City will participate actively in the public engagement process to ensure that the needs and concerns of the people of the City of Syracuse and the entire region are considered by DOT. The more people engage, the better the outcome will be.

County Executive Ryan McMahon's spokesman said McMahon was reviewing the report, and noted

As the County Executive has said repeatedly, this is a decision that will have impacts across the County and region and it is critical that appropriate mitigation measures are also taken to minimize any potential negative impacts. We cannot allow a single decision to halt the momentum our community is experiencing.

State officials were briefed on the report today; McMahon and others will be briefed tomorrow morning.

State Senator Rachel May, who represents my district, said this in a statement:

The grid has long been my preferred option, because I believe it offers the best opportunity to simultaneously redress historical injustices and help Syracuse become the engine of growth for the whole region There will now be a lengthy public comment period, during which we can all study the careful analysis DOT has performed and weigh in with our concerns and suggestions.

There'll be much more to come, but there's happiness in many parts of Central New York tonight, as well as dismay in others.

We've got quite a challenge ahead of us, and hopefully people will rise to the occasion, instead of falling to it.

Quick Takes (v33): Carson and Katko

Quick Takes

There was an article in my local paper today, about the possibility that Ben Carson, president Trump's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, might pay a visit to Syracuse to see what's going on here.

According to Mark Weiner's article, Carson met with Congressman John Katko recently and talked about the Syracuse Surge and, according to Katko, he

expressed interest in visiting Syracuse to see how the city plans to transform its economy with public and private investment centered on a series of projects on the south end of downtown. 

The plan includes a new STEAM  high school that will be open not just to city students but to kids from all of the school districts in Onondaga County. The school would be dedicated to the more common STEM curriculum - science, technology, engineering and math - and also add focus on the arts, too.

Katko suggested that HUD could play a "leading role" in the Syracuse Surge, which ties in to rebuilding the Pioneer Homes project and redeveloping the whole southeast end of downtown, including whatever happens with the I-81 viaduct project, and said that HUD money could "help jump-start" development efforts.

And, Katko said they also talked about the ongoing issue with lead poisoning here; new funding was approved in December to get our lead paint abatement program back up and running, after funding was cut off due to disagreements between the City and HUD back in 2012.

Whether or not you're a Carson or Katko fan, we'd be nuts to not want a Cabinet member with good intentions coming here; after all, NY historically gets a lot less from the federal government than we pay in. And if there's a chance that HUD will come through with some money and other assistance to help us rebuild the south east side of downtown, and continue their commitment to helping us get rid of the lead that's still causing issues for kids in Syracuse,  I'm all for it.

Grains of Salt (v44): The State of the County

New County Executive Ryan McMahon gave his first State of the County address at the end of last month, offering successes from the county and various departments, as well as outlining a fairly moderate vision for the future.

You can watch the speech here, with closed captioning that, let's just say, added an unintentional air of comedy.

The successes included a budget surplus, increased sales tax receipts, significant economic impact from the amphitheater, and increased revenue from the Turning Stone gambling compact payments. Property taxes are lower than ever, and there's a lot more collaboration across all jurisdictions, including with the City of Syracuse.

Here are a few of the initiatives he mentioned:

• Implementing a ThinkDifferently plan here. Developed by Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, a ThinkDifferently program ensures residents with special needs - those on the autism spectrum, or who have mental health issues or physical disabilities, are given appropriate support and services. There's a new position for a Deputy Commissioner of Disability Services included here, too. 
• Creating a Chief Diversity Officer; expanding minority representation in the county workforce to 20% by 2022, and recruiting county workers from the poorest zip codes in the city, the suburbs, and rural areas.  
• Promoting a bill that will make all plot and burial services for veterans and eligible dependents free at the Onondaga County Veterans Cemetery.
• consolidating all of the waste water infrastructure under the county, so that we can "fix the pipes once for the next 100 years" instead of making incremental repairs over and over and over for the next 100 years.

The main points of his address centered on what he calls the PIE agenda, focusing on poverty, infrastructure, and economic development. Let's look at some of the details.

Grains of Salt (v43): Hire Ground

Grains of Salt

Syracuse and Onondaga County are collaborating on a program that will help reduce panhandling and help establish an income stream for some of the city's homeless population.

In a few short months, we've moved away from plans to address 'aggressive' panhandlers via a local law, and instead will be looking to give people a leg up towards improving their situation.

How did this transition occur?  According to this article,

Four months ago, then-County Legislator Ryan McMahon proposed a different tactic against "aggressive" panhandling. Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh voiced support for McMahon's efforts at the time, but stopped short of endorsing the legislation.

... after extensive discussions with social service providers and others, McMahon and Walsh unveiled  what they called "a better option."

That option? A $200,000 pilot program designed to provide jobs and support to this both visible and invisible population of the city.  The program, called Hire Ground Workforce Development, will provide transportation for up to eight people to job sites three days a week, and also connect them to services, such as drug counseling and health care.

McMahon, now the Onondaga County Executive, said his change in approach came from listening to the experts, something that a good leader should do. He said the old plan, the local law, never had the goal of putting people in jail, but was designed to avoid safety issues that come from panhandlers basically refusing to take 'no' for an answer.

Part of our dialogue was, is there an alternative approach to take, a conservative approach. That's kind of what we're doing here. 

Grains of Salt (v42): The State of the City (pt. 2)

Grains of Salt

In yesterday's post, I took things a little out of order and focused on what had been accomplished in Mayor Ben Walsh's first year in office.Today, it's all about the future, and the Syracuse Surge.

What's that, you might be wondering? The Syracuse Surge?  Well, here's how the mayor set the state:

As is customary in a State of the City address, I've prepared a report on the past year and information on plans ahead in 2019. Something exciting, though, happened earlier this week in Albany. In his 2019 State of the State, Governor Cuomo took special note of what is happening in our city. He reported on a "resurgence" occurring here. And he committed strong support for the Syracuse Surge, a new strategy to ignite growth and economic opportunity in Syracuse and the region. So, before going into what we accomplished in 2018, I'll begin with the story behind the Syracuse Surge and how we believe it will help us achieve our vision of being a growing city.

Walsh talked about technology, and how different things are generally ("the future promised in the Jetsons is finally here."), as well as specifically for Syracuse.

Change is hard, but we've risen to the task of embracing new technology before, and I'm certain we can do it again.

Those 'before' changes included the First and Second Industrial Revolutions, where Syracuse as a leader, Walsh said, but we lost ground in the Third Industrial Revolution as we "struggled to capture the progress offered by new technology" and that's had a decades-long impact on us. But it can be changed.

Today, Syracuse has a once in a generation opportunity to leap into the future, to avoid decades of further division, growing income inequality and declining quality of life. 

Enter the Syracuse Surge.

Grains of Salt (v41): The State of the City (pt. 1)

Grains of Salt

Last week, Syracuse's Mayor Ben Walsh gave his second State of the City (SOTC) address. I was not able to attend, but I've captured some of the highlights below.

After opening with a great story about a Syracuse kid who found a career path through a city-supported program, and introductions of dignitaries and invited guests, Walsh dove right in.

For starters,

... I am pleased to report that the state of our city is stronger than it was when I stood before you a year ago.

He's not blind to the problems we faced then, and now, but feels overall we understand them better, and pointed to the foundation that's been built to address them, as well as incremental progress that's been made.

He also referenced the vision for the city, and the objectives which were tagged to help realize the vision. I discussed that in a recent post quoting a couple of interviews Walsh has done. The objectives focus on fiscal sustainability, delivery of city services, economic investment and stable neighborhoods, and constituent engagement, and were chosen because

they epitomize government's responsibility to have a meaningful and positive impact on our lives. There is a direct connection between the way we execute the daily business of managing this government and they way each one of you experiences the city as a contributor to you own personal and family well-being. 

Let's look at how things went in year one.

Grains of Salt (v40): Ben Walsh Reflects

Ben Walsh, the Independent mayor of Syracuse, will give his second State of the City this Thursday at the Red House, the newly renovated arts center on Salina Street.

In advance of that address, he had a Question-and-Answer session with Chris Baker of the Post Standard/Syracuse.com, and an interview with India Miraglia of SU's The Daily Orange, In both of those interactions with the media, Walsh shared his thoughts on his first year in office. The information - and quotes - below came from both of the articles linked above.

Among the highlights, he said:

• hearing from people that there's a new energy and renewed sense of optimism for Syracuse;
• establishing a strong vision for the future - for Syracuse to be a growing city that embraces diversity and creates opportunity for all;
• having a very diverse team, at all levels;
• identifying strategic 'building blocks' of fiscal sustainability; neighborhood stability and economic growth; constituent engagement; and finding effective and efficient ways to deliver city services;
• holding spending flat, as well as identifying savings opportunities;
• the new sales tax agreement with the County; 
• focus on public safety (new police chief, new recruits for the SPD, and a new fire chief); and.
• and the summer jobs program.

What else was on his mind?

Grains of Salt (v38): A Personal Touch

Question: If you received a letter from your local government, and the envelope included a personal note, would it inspire you to open the letter?

And if, instead of the garden-variety form letter, you had a personal note from the mayor, would you maybe pay your past-due taxes?

Seems that's exactly what happened right here in Syracuse when Mayor Ben Walsh and others staffers sent handwritten notes to folks with outstanding taxes -- which brought in $1.47M over a four month period, according to this article.

The idea to send the notes came from the folks at the X Lab, a think tank at SU's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. The guys from the X Lab worked with the city on how to reduce foreclosures and increase tax collections, and came up with the idea trying a personal note after doing some research into how people respond to different types of communication.

Here's how it worked: around 1900 people got the standard government issue form letter, but another 3800 or so got a handwritten letter, some of which also included a note on the envelope. The purpose of the letters was the same: notify the property owner of the delinquency and try to get them to pay up.  The personal letters went further, explaining that if they didn't pay up they'd lose their homes, but the city didn't want that to happen. The letters also explained some of the city services that the taxes support.

The results were pretty impressive: people who received the note on the envelope paid 88% more than the control group, the ones who just got the form letter. Even the folks who got the letter without the note on the envelope paid 50% more than the control group.

Walsh, a Maxwell grad himself, noted

This partnership with X Lab helps both the City and our residents. It's the kind of positive outcomes that occur when you aren't afraid to innovate and try something new. By using evidence and data to improve government services, processes and initiatives, we are helping to balance the budget while at the same time improving the health and well being of our citizens. 

Delinquent taxes are a long-standing problem in the city, with some $30M outstanding on over 2700 seizable properties,where the owners are more than two years behind - before this project started. And, there's another $9.6M outstanding on this year's taxes.

Also long-standing problems? Housing instability and poverty. Which is why it's great that we're seeing innovative approaches to these problems, and that we're seeing collaboration between local governments, SU and other educational institutions, and organizations like the Allyn Foundation, which provided grants for X Lab collaborations.

And honestly, this is exactly why Ben Walsh was elected mayor - to find innovative ways to improve life in the city, to find and work with any willing partners to try and solve these long-standing problems, and to get us back on track financially. 

Kudos to everyone involved.

Grains of Salt (v33): Quietly, A Budget Passes

Grains of Salt

It's almost sad that I'm still catching up on things that happened at home when we were on vacation last month, but it's true.

One of those things that almost slipped by was the passage of the Syracuse city budget, unanimously and with no changes, by the Common Council.

This is in stark contrast to what has happened in the recent past; former Mayor Stephanie Miner's last budget, for example, saw the Council reallocate funding for the Greater Syracuse Land Bank (GSLB) to fund Syracuse Police Department recruits. The mayor's veto of the changes was overridden by the Council - which had a Democratic majority; the mayor was of their own party when all of this happened.

Ben Walsh, our new and improved mayor, ran as an independent, with strong support from Democrats, and as a collaborative executive willing to work with any willing partners to try and make things better for our city. According to council members, they were brought into the budget process early on, had meetings with the mayor's team, got answers to their questions, and helped craft the budget.  The goal of all of that?  I'll let the Mayor explain:

Our goal when we started this budget process was to make sure there were no surprises in the budget when it reached the councilor members' mailboxes, and I think we achieved that. 

Not only did he invite councilors to participate, he made a budget presentation to them, in person, instead of sending minions to do it for him. That kind of respect and cooperation between City Hall and the chief executive is what we'll need to solve our difficult challenges - something Walsh is not afraid of tackling.

His budget freezes salary increases and non-essential hiring; it also funds new firefighter and police recruits, and restores the GSLB funding, all of which make me happy. We will need to take another $11M from city reserves, and the school district budget, also approved, will tap Syracuse City School District reserves for $14M.

And, also important for us, a plan to have the state's Financial Restructuring Board review spending and operations and provide some non-binding recommendations for city leaders to review and act upon. If we do, there's state money to help implement the changes. I'm hopeful this review, coupled with the efforts of Walsh's Fiscal Summit Advisory Committee (a report is due in time for next year's budget planning), will identify what we can do to right our financial ship and keep the city moving forward.

This non-confrontational budget process is a really good start.

Grains of Salt (v32): Housing Stability

Grains of Salt

A local elected official with whom I'm connected on social media started a great conversation yesterday morning, about  some of the government programs that work to renovate older homes in cities like Buffalo and Syracuse.

In some cases, according to an article in The Buffalo News, renovations can cost several hundred thousand dollars on homes that end up getting sold for less than a quarter of the cost of fixing them. There are multiple drivers of the high costs of renovation, including getting old houses in compliance with building codes; asbestos and lead abatement; a limited number of contractors to do the work (Buffalo seems to have only three), and dealing with rehabs in historic districts, among others.

Buffalo is not alone - we have some of those same issues here in Syracuse. I live next door to a home that was extensively and beautifully renovated through programs and grants under the auspices of the Greater Syracuse Land Bank (GSLB), something I've talked about before. This house was a little different than some; it was the only one in the neighborhood needing this level of help, so it got a full home makeover and only then was sold, at market value. In other cases owners can purchase houses at a very low cost, promising to renovate them; sometimes, there are multiple houses on a street or in a neighborhood are all owned by the GSLB.

There are currently over 900 properties in the GSLB inventory including empty lots, demolition candidates, and single or multi-family homes needing some level of renovation. And that's just what's been turned over to them -- it doesn't represent the entire stock of properties in Syracuse that need help - or need to be demolished. And, it doesn't touch on another issue that's having an impact on our city: housing stability.

I admit I hadn't given much thought to 'housing stability' until I had the chance to vote on initiatives for Syracuse's Innovation Team, or I-Team, to tackle under new Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh's administration. Housing stability, which finished second in the public vote, was chosen after consultation with the Mayor and the Common Council. Doing something about sidewalks was the winner of the public vote, but that's more transactional than transformational, and is being looked at separately.

So what is housing instability and how does it impact a city? Here's how the I-Team describes it.

...the high frequency of forced moves that our residents endure. Many of these moves are forced by poor housing quality, unstable neighborhood conditions, and high costs of housing in relation to income.  All of these conditions can contribute to doubling up and overcrowding in housing units, chronic homelessness, and a high rate of unplanned residential mobility. Frequent moves have damaging financial and health impacts on our residents and neighborhoods, especially on our school-aged children.

Some of the recent numbers on this are quite alarming:

• 25% of city residents move at least once per year, higher than in other upstate cities and more than double the national average (2011-2015)
• 21% of those under 17 years of age live in a different house than they did a year ago (2011-2015)
• over 54% of renters are paying more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities(2015)
• some 11,000 people lose their homes due to eviction each year (2017)
• one in 10 students in the Syracuse City School District were homeless (2016)

Clearly, these problems are complex and there's no magic wand that will fix them, just as there's no magic wand that will restore the city's available housing stock to the quality needed to foster strong neighborhoods and increase the attractiveness of the city, helping to grow our tax base and to maintain or even expand city services. 

The hope is that the I-Team and their partners will be able to come up with ideas that will help us start tackling the housing instability issue incrementally, whether it's by focusing on particular census tracts, or through how we handle landlords who aren't consistently providing safe housing to their tenants, and more.

And, equally important, hopefully other politicians will join my social media friend in talking about these issues in as many venues and methods as possible. Throwing something out on social media can be fraught with all kinds of negative possibilities, but it also can spark an intelligent, respectful conversation, which is what we managed to do on the housing topic. The more of these we have, the better.

Grains of Salt (v31): SOTC, Part 3

Grains of Salt

Let's take a look at the last part of new Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh's first State of the City address.

In the first two posts, we focused primarily on the city's financial condition and collaboration and the I-81 project and related efforts. In this last post, we'll look at aspects of daily living in a city, the stuff that matters to residents every day.

There is no greater responsibility for a city government than the safety of its residents. Without a feeling of security, none of the potential we have described tonight can occur. My hope is for a Syracuse in which citizens and the people charged with protecting them have a mutually supportive and respectful relationships. I want that for our residents and our law enforcement professionals, and I know we can get there.

As he did on a number of other issues, he referenced the work of his transition team; the Neighborhoods and Safety committee came up with more than 20 idea, he said, to build relationships between kids, adults and the police. Among the ideas? Recreational and job opportunities for teens, community policing, and an assessment of the Citizens Review Board.

These feel like perennial favorites - any mayor coming in would want to focus on these issues, to build trust between police and residents, and I'm hoping that we can get there this time. Walsh and Chief Fowler are focused on getting 25 - 30 new recruits on board by the end of the year but maybe there's more we can do: redeploying resources to get more police officers on the streets in the neighborhoods, back filling them with civilian employees, for example, or incentivizing cops to live in city neighborhoods; both of these will likely require difficult contract negotiations, but it would be worth it to try stuff like this, which other communities have done successfully.

Walsh is also undertaking a public-participation search for a new police chief; we residents will have the chance to define the characteristics we want in a chief, and a national search will get underway by spring. We also have some new leaders in both the police department and fire department; Walsh made quick moves there.

What else did he talk about?

• Snow removal - hard not to talk about that, given we're the snowiest city in the country. We have two issues here - roads, and sidewalks.  DPW crews get the main roads quickly, but side streets? Not so much. Add irresponsible residents parking on both sides of the street, or private snow removal companies filling the road with 'residential' snow, and it can get out of hand quickly. Also getting out of hand quickly? Residents not clearing their sidewalks timely - or ever, in some cases. Walsh is looking to the I-team to get on this one, with a public meeting coming up to talk about snow - and getting rid of it. 
• Bike sharing is another item on the Mayor's wish list, to allow people to rent a bike to get around town. Not sure how much demand there is for this, but we've been putting in a lot of bike lanes, so this might encourage more use of them. 
• Schools, of course - including phase two of the JSCB renovation program which is continuing this year. 
•  Drones - piloting, engineering and repairing them - via a partnership with the SCSD, OCC and Mohawk Valley Community College - with teaches kids what they need to know and gets them a college degree at no extra cost. This makes perfect sense given the emphasis on drones in CNY, including the 50-mile drone corridor that will eventually stretch to Syracuse from Rome.
• Educational opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math - STEM - via partnership with LeMoyne College and Onondaga County

What we saw in this last part of the SOTC was the same as we saw in the first two parts: Walsh, looking for collaborators, looking for participation, looking to allow everyone to #RiseAbove together. And that's how he  wound up the policy portions of his speech.

The journey will be made easier if we are all in it together. So tonight, I repeat the invitation to join us. Stay informed. Come to meetings. Share your ideas. Hold us accountable.

Our journey will go faster if the businesses and institutions of our great city get behind us and push us along - investing their resources here in our city, opening their doors to the rich talent pool here in our community and extending a hand to all those who need to be helped along. Because, in the end, isn't that all that really matters, the compassion we show for each other?

We've had optimism before in Syracuse, , and plans, and ideas, and we've had collaboration between the city and the county, too - noteworthy collaboration, even.

But this feels different, I think. More hopeful; more possible, more 'ready.'  It feels like a lot of work has been done already, with partners lined up, people in place, plans and ideas already on the table for discussion, and room for more.  It feels good.

Grains of Salt (v30): SOTC, Part 2

The other day, I took a look at new Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh's State of the City address.

In my first post on the SOTC, I focused on Walsh's plans to leverage collaboration, the careful planning of his Transition Team, performance metrics and accountability, and the work of the I-team to help us innovate our way out of our financial difficulties and into a more successful fiscal position.

Let's pick it up again, starting with the I-81 project.

We will also make 2018 an important year for progress on the I-81 Viaduct project. Syracuse and all of Central New York must seize the opportunity now to drive inclusive growth in the city and the region. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform our community. And thus far, we have failed to grab it. We can't afford to wait any longer. 

The facts are out there, Walsh tells us, and he's right. There's a ton of data on the NY DOT website, including the options still under consideration and those dismissed. We've been at this for years now, and we have to move forward at some point. Walsh supports the community grid plan, not a huger viaduct, and not Syracuse's version of The Big Dig. Why?

...commutes will actually be made easier by a street system that stops funneling our entire inbound and outbound daily migration to a major choke point - Harrison and Adams Streets.

...I have had elected officials from outside the City tell me that they understand exactly why I support the community grid, even while they advocate for a different solution. And, to be fair, I understand their position as well.

He's heard and understands concerns in Dewitt about increased traffic, noise and pollution with I-481 being made the new I-81. He's heard and understands concerns from north of the city, in Salina, about loss of tax revenue from hotels and other businesses that have grown up around the current path of the interstate. West suburbs worry about increased truck traffic, as people get off the highway earlier and take back roads to get to points west, disrupting or even destroying the small-village look and feel. And he's heard from our friends at Destiny USA about losing traffic and visibility if the I-81 name is moved to a different location, even if the physical highway will still remain.

And, he's got answers, Walsh does. The concerns are legitimate but solvable; he understands that threats to economic viability should be taken seriously; he gets that main streets are a cornerstone of both commerce and quality of life. Most importantly he's open to collaborative problem-solving.

We should not feel the need to argue over how the current pie is carved up. This city is prepared to work together to make a bigger pie for all. Together we can do transformative things for our city while simultaneously investing in and strengthening the economies of our suburban communities and improving our region's overall quality of life. 

As a community, we have already begun to rise, but handled properly, the I-81 project can be rocket fuel to our ascent. New revenue for our city... Inclusive job growth... A healthier economy and better neighborhoods... All are there. The I-81 opportunity is a clarion call for action and in 2018 the City is ready to answer. 

Specifically on the tunnel, a project which has received significant backing from local State Senator John DeFrancisco, who just announced his candidacy for Governor, Walsh pulls no punches.

Instead of contemplating spending several billion dollars more than is necessary on a tunnel to serve only 30,000 cars per day, what if we invested even a fraction of those dollars and the full power of our collective energy and creativity in undertaking meaningful economic development initiatives in areas outside of the city?

And there was this comment, which was directly related to the I-81 project, but really extends beyond that into Walsh's overarching approach to governing.

Instead of pitting our communities against each other, what if we stood together, unified, with a plan that creates wins for all of our communities? I believe the decision before us can and should be a source of deeper collaboration and a way to reconnect the economic interests of our City and our suburbs. 

He's got a lot of things in mind to help capitalize on the opportunities presented by the I-81 project, including assisting women and minority businesses in obtaining the necessary certification to allow them to grow now through participation on government projects, allowing them to be prepared to work on the community grid (or whatever solution we end up with).

He's partnering with folks from San Francisco in establishing the Syracuse Build program, modeled after City Build, the construction workforce training program they implemented. Other partners include the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency (Walsh was the Executive Director of SIDA under Mayor Stephanie Miner's administration), trade unions, community organizations, and the state departments of Labor and Transportation to move this innovative program forward.  And, he sees it extending beyond just construction training into other potential growth areas.

Walsh is also looking ahead to building new neighborhoods in the areas freed up by the anticipated removal of the viaduct. There's a massive review of the city's zoning ordinances, which started in 2015 when Walsh was still working for City Hall, and he's committed to getting it done this year. As he noted, the last time it happened, his grandfather was our mayor. And the Syracuse Housing Agency, with many properties in the impacted area, is also going to be ready, by engaging the community now to plan what to do then.

What seems clear from this section of the SOTC? Sitting around waiting for something to happen is not the way our new mayor plans on working, and it's not the way he sees us being successful.

I'll close with one more quote from his remarks.

In case you haven't noticed, I reject the idea that people of good will and open mind cannot find common ground.

Grains of Salt (v29): SOTC, Part 1

Grains of Salt

Last night, Ben Walsh, Syracuse's new mayor, gave his first State of the City (SOTC) address. Starting with this post, I'll take a look at how he outlined his priorities and his vision.

As the first mayor that I can remember while with young children, it seemed appropriate that he chose the Public Service Leadership Academy at Fowler High School as the location, and even more appropriate that he did a test-drive with some 60 students who are members of the Superintendent's Student Cabinet.  Walsh noted in his address that the kids were an impressive and inspiring group, that they "asked some of the most challenging questions" he faced while a candidate and as mayor, and

These young people are smart and passionate, and most important, I found them to be truly vested in the future of Syracuse. They want our city to succeed, so the challenge to all of us is to deliver a city that is attractive to them for the future.

After sharing several successes for the SCSD, including improving graduation rates, pre-k and career readiness programs, and outstanding teachers, he got right to the issues we face.

One of the highest hills we have to climb is the structural operating deficit that our city government faces. The financial reality we confront is precarious. Simply states, the city spends more than it takes in in revenue. None of us can live this way, and neither can the city.

He outlined the problem pretty succinctly:

• a stagnant revenue base
• no increase in state funding, called Aid and Incentive for Municipalities, since 2010, while the city's costs have gone up 12% or so in the same time frame 
• labor, health care, pension, utilities, waste and trash fees are all increasing 
• the very last Carousel Center - Destiny USA payment, over $3M, comes in March 
• eight labor contracts need to be negotiated 
• and, of course, there's the Cuomo 2% tax ceiling 

But -- boy, he's an optimist!

Everything I have told you is based on the realities that existed yesterday, not tomorrow. We can change course and put the city on a healthy fiscal path. 

That path will come, Walsh tells us, with the help of his Fiscal Summit Advisory Committee, a partnership with the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. The group will have recommendations due early this coming fall, in time for the 2019 budget. And, he says, the group is already seeing potential solutions towards solvency for the city.

What else is on his agenda for us? With 125 recommendations from this Transition Team, he's looking at stronger neighborhoods, better schools and inclusive growth, bringing the entire city along, allowing (eventually) everyone to Rise Above.  How will we get there?

Leveraging the work of the Office of Innovation (the I-team), which itself is leveraging our ideas; establishing accountability and measuring performance to continuously drive improvement; streaming Common Council meetings; leveraging the expertise of city employees who have ideas to do things better and more cost effectively and those types of things that are common in business, if less so in government.

Collaboration with other jurisdictions - including shared services with the County are also critical to our success, and Walsh advised he's already initiated these conversations at the local, state and federal level. One month in.

I-81 is going to be a huge key to our future, and our success, and Walsh seems to be looking at the big picture, not any one selfish interest.

When I hear discussions about a tunnel, or a new, wider viaduct, I fear the community is limited by thinking focused solely on moving cars. I challenge us to do our homework and place our focus on moving our community and our region forward.

I'll pick it up there next time.

Grains of Salt (v27): Rise Above

Grains of Salt

Today, inside the Landmark Theater instead of on the steps of City Hall, Syracuse's new mayor had his public inauguration.

Independent Ben Walsh's inauguration marks a change for the city of Syracuse: we have a non-major party mayor for the first time in a century or so. Walsh, the son of a Republican congressman, grandson of a Republican mayor, got elected with a lot of Democratic support.

He also had the support of many local developers, with whom he worked as deputy commissioner of neighborhood and business development and executive director of the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency in the administration of Stephanie Miner, our term-limited former mayor.

Walsh ran as a collaborator, someone who can and will work with his local, state and federal counterparts to advance the interests of city and her residents. We've seen that before, when Miner first got elected and immediately began working with County Executive Joanie Mahoney. That relationship soured, irrevocably, but that did not sour the voters on the prospects of someone new who was willing to do the same thing. 

In his inaugural comments, Walsh highlighted his optimism, because "Syracuse is a strong city that stands on a solid foundation... a diverse community that only weeks ago voted to set its differences aside and work together to create an even better future...(and) because we have strong support for our city across the region and the state."

After challenging everyone to participate in our city and our government, he shared some information about his transition team, which focused on four areas: poverty and economic opportunity, education, safety and neighborhoods, and city finances.

Lifting people out of poverty will be the single biggest challenge we confront together, and it will be central to our agenda over these next four years.  A segregated city that concentrates wealth in some places and poverty in others is not a modern, progressive city. We must rise together...

 Education and the condition of our schools is another critical issue facing our community. Together we will push our graduation rate from just over 60 percent today to 70 percent, then 80 percent and beyond until we can be counted among the best urban school districts in America... 

We must also improve our neighborhoods and make our streets safer for all of our citizens...(my Quality of Life Commission) will be...focused on beautification of our streets, gateways and business districts; addressing nuisance crimes that destabilize our neighborhoods; and enforcement of ordinances using data and metrics to prioritize neighborhood services.

And he specifically talked about policing, which was a hot issue during the campaign.

...we will put more officers on the street. But we must go beyond policing. We need to build relationships between our officers and our neighbors and we need a police force that reflects the rich diversity of our community. 

Walsh admitted during the campaign that, if needed, he would consider a tax increase. He didn't mention that today, but he did talk about a few things we can anticipate.

...I will hold a Fiscal Summit in partnership with the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. We will convene our city's anchor institutions, business leaders, the banking community, as well as county, state and national leaders - and we will tackle our challenges head on..

My administration will partner with business owners and developers...encourage investment and new jobs in the city... be intentional and work together to ensure success is enjoyed in neighborhoods throughout our city.

He closed his remarks on the same theme with which he began - optimism.

The challenges we face are not different than those faced by other cities, big and small, in America... we will follow an inclusive and engaged approach to government. We will think and act independently and in non-partisan ways. We will operate a city government that is humble and aware of its responsibility to serve. And every day, we will work to earn and maintain your trust. 

There is no problem too big to solve as long as we Rise Above. No reason to stop us from fulfilling the promise that Syracuse's best days are still ahead of us.  

Rise above is exactly what our city needs to do. I'm excited by the prospect of this new administration, and hope that Walsh and his team can get us back on track. We'll have a lot to talk about, I'm sure, as his administration gets its legs and starts to really dig in.