The race is on: Candidates for city seats wind down campaigns; ready themselves for Election Day
Just a week away from Election Day, races around the city of Syracuse are heating up. The Daily Orange highlighted four city election races: 4th District common councilor, city auditor, 5th District common councilor and councilor-at-large.
4th District Common Councilor
The 4th District Common Council sector includes downtown, parts of the Southside and Eastside neighborhoods and some Syracuse University neighborhoods.
Khalid Bey
The Democratic candidate for the 4th District Common Council is Khalid Bey. Two of Bey’s major issues on his platform include job creation and education. Bey said that in Syracuse, he has seen a problem with people not understanding what jobs are in need.
‘There needs to be a promotion of what jobs exist and training in those areas, and then attracting more jobs to the city,’ Bey said.
Education is part of his platform, and Bey supports programs that are catered to the needs of students.
‘My opinion is that the environment for education is not conducive to learning,’ Bey said. ‘It’s a tough sell. It’s a lot tougher than it sounds, but I plan to work closely with school commissioners to come up with ideas.’
Howie Hawkins
The Green Party candidate for the 4th District is Howie Hawkins, a well-known activist for the Southside and Eastside of Syracuse. Hawkins’ campaign platform includes better education, fair wages, equal employment and clean energy systems.
‘He is a multi-issue person,’ Ursula Rozum, Hawkins’ campaign co-chair, said. ‘Anything that has to do with social justice, fairness, equality, humans’ rights or fair food wages, he works for.’
Hawkins is involved with the South Side Community Coalition, which is trying to revitalize the business district on Salina Street between Brighton and Colvin streets.
‘In cooperation with SU, we got the communications center involved where the kids can come in and use the computers,’ Hawkins said.
City Auditor
Because of term limits, Democrat Phil LaTessa can’t run for re-election. The Department of Audit, headed by the city auditor, conducts an audit of the affairs of every officer, department and board of the city.
Steve Kimatian
The 69-year-old Republican had a career as general counsel and manager of broadcasting stations in Maryland, Buffalo and Syracuse. Kimatian ran for mayor in 2009, but lost to Democrat Stephanie Miner. He also is an adjunct professor in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.
Kimatian said he is looking to create transparency for how decisions are made by the city administration. Like Martin Masterpole, Kimatian plans to address the balance of pension costs and overtime issues.
Kimatian said his credentials — more than 25 years dealing with finance, accounting and lenders — should appeal to residents and SU students.
Kimitian also said he works well with the city administration, but isn’t close friends with them like Masterpole.
‘My opponent happens to be part of the inner circle of the mayor of Syracuse, and to expect that a person who is part of the inner circle is going to be critical of what that person does, I think is a pretty big reach,’ he said.
Martin Masterpole
The 38-year-old Democrat previously served four years as a Syracuse common councilor. He is currently completing his fourth year as an Onondaga County legislator representing the 17th District.
Masterpole said one of his main goals is to provide more services from the department.
‘Typically right now, we see many of just the chartered audits being conducted, but I’d like to expand that to some performance-based audits,’ Masterpole said.
During Masterpole’s time on the Common Council, he was on the Finance, Taxation and Assessment Committee every year and went through the city budget several times — something Masterpole said his opponent isn’t as experienced with.
‘I think my opponent has been boasting about a large corporate background and oversight over these large corporate budgets, but I’m not interested in discussing corporate budgets,’ Masterpole said. ‘I’m interested in discussing a municipal budget that I’m very familiar with, and I believe I have more experience in that than he does.’
5th District Common Councilor
The 5th District covers the eastern portion of Syracuse and the eastern side of SU including Thornden Park and the Westcott, Near Eastside and Salt Springs neighborhoods.
Nader Maroun
Maroun is the incumbent Democrat for the position. He is the chairman for the Education and Human Development Committee and is a member of the public works and public safety committees.
Maroun is concerned with the quality of life issues for students, so he attends as many meetings that involve community members and businesses as he can.
‘By virtue of being an elected official, I have direct contact with students who are asking questions. I am aware of what’s going on, what’s current, and I can respond relative to the city,’ he said.
Bruce McDaniels
Though this name will appear on every ballot, McDaniels is no longer actively campaigning for office, he said in an email. He said the 5th District Common Council is made of the 5th and 17th wards in Syracuse. He said a Republican cannot win the seat in the 17th ward because of the overwhelming Democratic enrollment. There are other Republicans who can win other offices, and he is supporting them. He said he missed the deadline to withdraw his name from the ballot by a few hours.
Councilor-at-Large
The councilor-at-large acts on issues including the school budget, city budget, neighborhood issues, and zoning and economic development resolutions. This is a city-wide position. Voters can choose two of the four candidates.
Helen Hudson
Hudson is committed to bringing the voice of the community to the Common Council. There are too many residents who feel disenfranchised and unheard, she said. She will work to make the city a safer place, especially from violence. Hudson co-founded Mothers Against Gun Violence after the streets of Syracuse became plagued with death, shootings and violence. Hudson said her priority is safety.
‘Students at Syracuse University are residents of this city, and it’s my priority when on the Common Council to make sure residents feel safe in our city,’ she said.
Kathleen Joy
As the incumbent councilor-at-large, Joy has worked on writing and supporting the overlay district for the university neighborhood, which protects students from overcrowded, dangerous housing but keeps residential neighborhoods from turning into rentals, she said. Joy is a Democrat and has endorsements from the Working Families Party and the Veterans Party. During her time, Joy ensured that money from SU goes toward organizations that will have a positive effect on the neighborhood, she said.
Joseph Rotondo
Rotondo has taught in the Syracuse City School District, he’s worked for the county budget department and he’s been doing personal tax returns for the last 20 years. Rotondo retired from teaching three years ago, and one of his main goals is to help improve the city education system by getting students in the city classrooms and encouraging parent involvement.
‘I think as a city we’ve got to work on getting the kids in the building. Secondly, families that are stakeholders in their kids’ educations, try to keep them in the city,’ he said. ‘I find that when their kids start to get to be school age, they go find a house in Fayetteville or outside the city and that’s a dilemma.’
Kurt Schmeling
A Republican and conservative candidate, Schmeling worked at various air conditioning companies before retiring, according to the SU Democracywise website. He is advocating for licensing absentee landlords and controlling truancy for school children, according to the website. He has not held a previous office but ran for the councilor-at-large seat in 2003 and 2005 and the Common Council District 1 seat in 2007, according to the website. Schmeling could not be reached to comment.
Published on October 31, 2011 at 12:00 pm
