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 (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.