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Lead, child poverty, poor public transportation, housing, food insecurity and more continue to be hurdles for underrepresented families living in the city of Syracuse. These societal issues loom in the background of continued promises of grand economic development, like a new aquarium or the arrival of Micron’s semiconductor manufacturing facility. Problems facing residents may ease with economic growth, but in the meantime, people’s lives in this city will not get easier without intervention.

In November, lead was found in the drinking water of homes during a second round of city testing. A month prior, the Natural Resources Defense Council announced in a CBS news article that Syracuse’s water contained more lead than that of Flint, Michigan, calling for the city to announce a state of emergency. The same results continued to resurface in the Syracuse City School District as tests at the start of the new year proved the drinking water was still unsafe. While the SCSD ensures that lead amounts are at a safe level for students to drink water, we are still unsure of the root cause.

Syracuse City Auditor Alex Marion expressed this sentiment after 2024’s budget report was released, urging the city’s Common Council to request more public input. Marion said, “The budget is the City of Syracuse’s budget, it’s the people’s budget.” This notion and responsibility should extend to the county, not just the city.

Youth in Syracuse remain undeservingly affected by systemic failures and negligence. News outlets recently covered the carbon monoxide poisoning of an employee at a high school that lacked CO alarms. It’s vital to show residents situations like this, where either the city, school or district turned a blind eye to the eight code violations that came to light afterward.

Adding to this troubling paradigm, a video was released of a minor being falsely detained while waiting at a bus stop alongside her peers. Police claimed she resembled their photo of a car thief, an error that not only traumatized the young girl, but also eroded trust between law enforcement and the community.

Though this is recent news, it mirrors the conversations prevalent in 2020 regarding budgeting in Syracuse. Local activist groups demanded police reform, which included the issue of over-policing in schools.

I was one of the youth activists representing the wider student population in the district that year. Our demand was for funds allocated to hire security officers in schools to instead be spent on therapists and counselors for children. The collected student feedback demonstrated patterns of profiling, use of force and the desire for mental health outlets. All were presented to city officials by the community, yet the budget continued to include hirings of police officers for school security.

These are just a few examples of the recent issues in Syracuse, but the core concern remains the same for many. The city’s lack of transparency about the problem and no sense of urgency are unacceptable. What systems and funds are in place by both the city and county to protect the well-being of their community, especially the vulnerable youth population? These crises persist without proactive measures and open dialogue, undermining public confidence and worsening inequality.

Stronger local relationships should be fostered on the city leadership’s behalf. Open communication must be prioritized, ensuring residents not only have a platform to voice their concerns, but also feel their input genuinely influences decision-making. This requires more than listening; it demands visible accountability from leaders when the community is wronged or left uninformed.

When leadership turns a blind eye to systemic failures, trust in public institutions deteriorates.
Residents don’t feel informed when the whole story isn’t provided. Without open communication, how can citizens trust that the city is working in their best interest?

These jarring incidents expose the scarcity of systems in place to protect and prioritize the well-being of Syracuse’s youth. Elected officials must urgently address these failures with transparency, accountability and comprehensive reforms to ensure such harm won’t be repeated. The city’s future depends on its ability to safeguard and uplift its youngest occupants.

Sarhia Rahim is a senior policy studies major. Her column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at slrahim@syr.edu.

Published on January 16, 2025 at 12:41 am