No matter who wins the Syracuse mayoral race this November, Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney is ready to craft a relationship with the city based on its needs, she said.

If the new mayor’s administration is open to it, Mahoney would like to find priorities and ways for the county to support Syracuse’s prioritized goals, she said. She already knows and has relationships with all four mayoral candidates.

“We are all looking forward to a clean slate, a fresh start opportunity to work with a new city administration to find some creative ways to address some real chronic problems,” Mahoney said.

The relationship, though, between Mahoney and current Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner has been particularly strained over the years, stemming in part from the Carrier Dome’s development.

In one of the most recent examples of animosity between Syracuse’s mayor and the county executive, Miner criticized Onondaga County for being silent on issues such as the “sanctuary city” movement this April.

But how Mahoney — the most powerful Republican to hold public office in Onondaga County, first elected executive in November 2007 — will try to develop a relationship with an incoming Syracuse mayor is nothing new, according to her conviction: Put politics aside and focus on governing.

Her job as county executive, she said, is to keep people safe, ensure infrastructure is in good shape and provide an adequate safety net.

Mahoney is the most powerful Republican to hold public office in Onondaga County as county executive. Gavin Liddell | Staff Photographer

Earlier this year, a group composed of city leaders, called Consensus, released a government service consolidation plan and recommended a merger between the city and county governments. Mahoney commended the recommendations. Miner reviled a consolidation as “the worst form of corporate looting.”

And while the county Legislature torpedoed Consensus’ recommendation of holding a referendum in November, Mahoney managed to win support of local mayors, town supervisors and school district representatives for her County-Wide Shared Service Plan earlier this year. That measure was approved in a 35-to-1 vote.

“We let the process come from the bottom-up, and all of the ideas in there came from villages and towns, and we’ve found places where we have common ground,” Mahoney said.

That plan was mandated by New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo as part of a property tax savings initiative.

Mahoney has a close relationship with Cuomo, a Democrat: Mahoney served as a transition team co-chair for him in 2010, after she endorsed his bid for governor.

She was also appointed by Cuomo to serve as a trustee on the New York Power Authority and chair of the New York State Thruway Authority, according to the county. Cuomo earmarked $500 million for the central New York region in his Upstate Revitalization Initiative in 2015, partly to support Consensus’ work with government consolidation.

While Mahoney has clashed with Miner, she’s also faced criticism from county officials.

Kevin Holmquist, a Republican legislator representing the county’s 10th District, is irked by Mahoney supporting Cuomo “all the time,” he said.

“Andrew Cuomo is one of the most liberal governors in the United States of America, and if you’re a liberal, that’s fine,” he said. “But a normal Republican wouldn’t support Andrew Cuomo on all of the issues.”

Holmquist characterized Mahoney as a “Republican In Name Only,” adding that the county executive did not endorse fellow Republican legislators such as David Knapp in a primary and Republican candidate Rob Astorino for governor in 2014.  Mahoney said she hasn’t endorsed Laura Lavine, a Republican Syracuse mayoral candidate, in order to “stay out of politics.”

At the same time, Mahoney endorsed Republican John Katko in 2014 when he ran for the 24th Congressional District race. Katko defeated incumbent Democrat Dan Maffei.

“A criticism that she is a Republican In Name Only is a tremendous compliment,” said Minchin Lewis, an adjunct professor of public administration and international affairs at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. “Because what it means is that she’s not an ideologue who is committed to a particular, narrowly defined objective.”

Thomas Dadey, Onondaga County GOP chair, through a spokesman declined to comment on this article.

Mahoney’s relationship with Onondaga County Comptroller Bob Antonacci has also gone downhill. The comptroller, a Republican, stood by Miner and opposed Consensus’ government consolidation plan in April. Mahoney and Antonacci traded barbs, and at one point, according to Syracuse.com, Antonacci threatened to sue Mahoney over an allegation that she conspired with a man who planned to file a racial discrimination lawsuit against the comptroller and the county. Antonacci declined to comment on this article.

Holmquist criticized Mahoney, saying that county legislators like him can’t talk with Onondaga County department heads, and all information is funneled through the county executive’s office.

This June, Holmquist did not get clear answers on the ending date of an emergency repair of a Highbridge Street culvert from the Department of Transportation’s commissioner and communications director, he said.

Both of those officials and the county executive’s office repeatedly referred him to a press release that said the project would be completed by “the end of this construction season,” he said.

However, Alex Walsh, a county DOT spokesperson, disputed Holmquist’s claim that county legislators aren’t allowed to speak with county department leaders. County legislators, including Holmquist, were invited to a pre-construction season meeting on upcoming projects, which included information on the culvert project, he said. Holmquist, Walsh said, did not attend the meeting.

That project’s completion date was unspecified considering unforeseeable circumstances, like most road projects, Walsh said.

But Republican and Democratic county legislators both said while they might not always agree with Mahoney on issues, they still seek ways to work together.

“No political parties have monopolies on good ideas,” Mahoney said. “And it sounds trite but there’s not really a Republican way to plow the snow and a Democratic way to plow the snow.”

Published on October 17, 2017 at 10:51 pm

Contact Satoshi: ssugiyam@syr.edu | @SatoshiJournal