At the beginning of his first term in office, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh worked to create a “north star”: a vision that his whole administration could strive to move toward. He said that north star has helped keep him focused in his first year as mayor.

“Our vision is for Syracuse to be a growing community that embraces diversity and creates opportunity for all,” Walsh said.

Walsh, a Syracuse native and the first independent to be elected mayor in more than 100 years, said much of his first year in office was spent establishing building blocks that would encourage progress in the future.

Those building blocks consisted of assembling a diverse administration and developing four main objectives: fiscal sustainability; neighborhood stability and economic growth; constituent engagement and response and the deliverance of city services effectively, efficiently and equitably.

Much of the foundation building revolved around putting Syracuse in a position to achieve economic growth, Walsh said. His campaign platform, “Syracuse Rising”, called for economic opportunity for all, and economic growth was a recurring theme in his first state of the city address.

Walsh’s first budget, which cut $3 million in projected spending and took $11 million from the city’s “rainy day” fund, was approved unanimously and without change by the Syracuse Common Council. It included funding for a new class of police and firefighters and provided for an increase of security and maintenance in the downtown area, among other things.

The budget held spending flat across all city departments for the mayor’s first year. Walsh said this set the right tone for his administration, and in December Walsh and County Executive Ryan McMahon collaborated to extend the current sales tax agreement, which Walsh said is one of the city’s biggest sources of revenue.

But when U.S. Census data was released last fall, Syracuse “once again found itself on the wrong kind of (the) top 10 list,” Walsh said.

Syracuse was ranked as one of the 10 poorest cities in the nation, and data showed that Syracuse lagged behind peer cities in areas that affect economic opportunity.

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“Rather than just throw up my hands or start to make assumptions about why we were where we were on that list, I challenged my team to really dig into that data and to try to understand what was really driving it,” Walsh said.

Common Councilor Susan Boyle said Walsh’s administration has taken a data-driven approach that is part of a larger attitude of innovation. Data, being used to analyze problems like the replacement of a failing Interstate 81 viaduct or sidewalk shoveling in the winter, makes it easier for the city to prioritize initiatives and spend more money in areas that affect many people, Boyle said.

Walsh’s efforts to turn Syracuse into a smart city is another initiative that will save Syracuse money in the end, Boyle added. The Common Council passed an ordinance to buy all of the city’s streetlights from National Grid, which Boyle said will serve as a foundation for future technology updates, such as city-wide Wi-Fi, that could increase access to internet and technology in Syracuse’s poorer neighborhoods.

“Technology should help us deliver traditional city services more effectively, with less money and with a higher quality,” Councilor at-large Tim Rudd said. “I think it’s a way to provide the services that cities need to do, but also a way to hopefully empower residents.”

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Walsh’s administration worked to ensure that it was running as a data-driven organization, Walsh said. He said, though, that the input from community members should also be considered. Decisions cannot be made in a vacuum, he said.

“You need to be sensitive to the people’s different realities based on where they’re at and where they’re coming from,” Walsh said. “It’s balancing again the community engagement, the priorities of the community, with the data and using all of the information to inform sound decision making.”

Constituent engagement, now one of Walsh’s four main objectives, has been a part of the mayor’s efforts since his campaign, in which he developed a diverse coalition that supported his route to election. Walsh said that when transitioning from the campaign trail to City Hall, he felt a sense of excitement and optimism from the community. Looking back at the last year, he said he still sees those same feelings today.

“I think he does inspire people,” Rudd said. “I think being young and having a name people are familiar with, that they trust him, and they see him building a city for his relatively young family.”

Walsh worked to engage the community by supporting live-streaming Common Council meetings and holding meetings with Syracuse residents to gauge their reactions on issues the city is facing. The administration created a performance management dashboard that allows the Syracuse community to see and track the progress being made in Walsh’s four main objectives. Walsh said that was one of his greatest achievements of the year.

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Walsh said one of his administration’s biggest accomplishments grew from feedback received while knocking on doors during his campaign.

“I heard time and time again in every part of the city that people, and particularly parents, wanted more opportunities for young people,” Walsh said.

That feedback led Walsh to expand a youth summer employment program that provided jobs for more than 1,000 youths in Onondaga County. He also worked with the Parks Department to execute projects, such as playground improvements, that would help local children have positive experiences, Walsh said. The progress made in those areas came directly from listening to members of the Syracuse community, he said.

Throughout the last year, Walsh and members of his administration have spoken with Syracuse residents in various town halls and panels about topics including the I-81 viaduct replacement, education and the city’s search for a new police chief.

Walsh attended a town hall with Syracuse’s new police chief in November. Molly Gibbs | Photo Editor

Councilor at-large Steven Thompson was a part of the process to find a replacement for retired Police Chief Frank Fowler. The search, which ended in December with the appointment of Kenton Buckner, was an example of Walsh’s inclusivity in decision making, Thompson said. He said Walsh brings everyone to the table when making decisions which is refreshing, but he said it can also be frustrating as sometimes processes are slowed down.

Thompson said he believes Walsh knows what he wants and where he wants to go in his position as mayor, and he’s currently finding his way toward that direction.

“I would say at this time he’s just pulling out of port and heading out toward the ocean,” Thompson said.

Walsh said that, overall, he feels good about the foundations that were laid out and the progress his administration made both within the government and in the city. But looking back on the past year and toward the future, Walsh said he would like to see more growth and quicker results.

“I do continue to feel a sense of urgency that it has to happen quickly,” Walsh said. “Not just because my time is limited in this position, but because in many ways our community has struggled for a long time and we owe it to the community, to our constituents, to make significant improvements as quickly as possible.”

Published on January 13, 2019 at 9:32 pm

Contact India: irmiragl@syr.edu