Executive Summary of Minch's Response to Questions Raised by Syracuse 20/20

The key challenge for the next Mayor of Syracuse is to provide leadership by projecting a vision of the City as the vibrant core of the entire metropolitan region. The Mayor must support that vision by putting in place the structures, programs and partnerships needed to make the vision a reality.

In bringing the vision to reality, the Mayor must articulate a coherent, consistent and holistic plan of action. The plan should address the particular concerns of several different constituencies including current and prospective residents of the City, employees of the City and School District, and residents of the County outside the City.

City residents need to be assured that there will be high quality schools, adequate jobs in the area, and decent, affordable homes in safe and stable neighborhoods where diversity is respected. Employees of the City and School District need to be made to feel they are part of an enterprise that is dedicated to the uplift of the entire community, and one that is supportive of their efforts. County residents most of whom already understand the critical importance of the cultural, recreational and government activities centered in the City must be assured that the City administration is committed to metropolitan cooperation and public safety.

Two other constituencies are particularly important to the future of the City. The Mayor must convince investors and area businesses that the City of Syracuse has a comprehensive fiscal plan with reasonable tax and development policies.

Each of the specific challenges identified by Syracuse 20/20 is an essential factor in meeting the challenge of leadership. All the factors are interrelated. For example, improving education is a key factor in strengthening and sustaining neighborhoods; enhancing economic development requires effective fiscal management. In turn, expanding economic development is critical in stabilizing the tax base and providing adequate job opportunities to attract and retain population.

The challenges of leadership have not been met in the recent past. The decline of this City resulted from that failure. This document includes the responses of the Minch Lewis Campaign to the questions raised by SYRACUSE 20/20. These responses present an action plan that the Lewis Administration will implement to address the challenges facing Syracuse’s leadership.

A summary of each response is provided below. (For the full response, click on the title for that section)

1. Diversity

One of our greatest strengths as a city is our diversity. This diversity should be celebrated, encouraged, and marketed so that this tremendous asset does not diminish. It should grow to become a draw for outsiders to interact, relocate to, and conduct business within our community. As Mayor, not only will I set the tone for acceptance and celebration of this diversity, I will also model my administration and policy to reflect and acknowledge this diversity.

As Mayor, I will be committed to:

• Creating a climate where differences among people are accepted, and established affirmative action policies are fully enforced.
• Leveraging the resources of the City and City Hall to provide the financial support, technical support, and marketing support to encourage all kinds of educational, cultural, social, and economic events that will afford interaction among the diverse population of the City.
• Building a City government that more closely reflects the diverse make-up of the community, welcoming the voices that often are not heard.

2. Downtown Redevelopment

Downtown is a place searching for a purpose. The chief challenge facing the downtown urban center is to re-define itself. Property is abandoned, taxes are out of line, parking is not convenient, and the appearance of Downtown is uninviting. Each of these challenges must be changed to an opportunity.

Downtown has traditionally been thought of as “belonging” to the City. Today, we must recognize that Downtown is jointly owned. It is a unique regional economic and cultural institution, as well as a dynamic and marketable residential neighborhood. The City and the County must share responsibility for Downtown redevelopment.

The most serious problem that has plagued downtown redevelopment efforts for forty years is parking. Parking fees for business employers add $500 per year to the cost of working downtown. Commercial, cultural, entertainment, and retail establishments suffer the most serious impact with high daily and hourly parking fees, parking meters and tickets, and uninviting environments.

The significance of Downtown must also be reevaluated. In the past, most commercial activity was located in the Central Business District. That District has blossomed into a development crescent that extends from the Regional Market/Ball Park, through Carousel Center, Franklin Square, Clinton Square, the Armory and over to the Convention Center, hospital complex, and all the way up to the University. That development crescent, which we refer to as “the Syracuse Crescent,” presents a unique combination of development opportunity and economic resources. It also is home to thousands of city residents and shares in the needs of all the City’s residential neighborhoods.

The City should partner with the County in promoting that redevelopment of the Syracuse Crescent by establishing the following policy priorities:

• Assisting the County in developing a land-use plan for the Syracuse Crescent
• Creating and supporting new uses of property in Downtown on a mixed use basis
• Providing the support services necessary to maintain the uses

Specific actions would include:

• Develop the Syracuse Crescent
• Reflect the progressive development out to contiguous neighborhoods
• Change building codes to promote residential development
• Support the facilities required for residential living in Downtown
• Provide leadership and incentives to insure that Carousel Center is linked to the surrounding neighborhoods
• Restore Downtown’s Physical Attractiveness
• Endorsing and promoting the concept of a cultural corridor connecting Montgomery Street, the Convention Center, and Armory Square
• Consider the creation of special aesthetic standards for Downtown
• Work actively with the Downtown Committee to develop new strategies for Downtown maintenance
• Establish a City emergency fund for preserving vacant property
• Improve the availability of Downtown parking
• Work with CENTRO and the County to address Common Center issues including the development of a transfer facility

3. Economic Development

The Mayor must assess how the City can most effectively advance economic development. I believe that the City’s direct role in economic development is limited by the problems that face regional development objectives and the resources that the City can commit to the process. Development, economic or otherwise, that directly impacts neighborhoods, residents, and local business is the responsibility of the City. Economic development at the regional level is the prerogative of the County with the City as an active partner in:

Fostering Business Development

• Participate actively in a forum to coordinate economic development strategies in the region
• Formally adopt the MDA Vision 2010 Plan
• Create neighborhoods as a resource to business
• Prepare “shovel-ready” sites and “tech-ready” buildings in keeping with the regional development plan
• Introduce business-friendly regulatory practices in all city agencies
• Remove tax and finance disincentives to development on city sites
• Earn a national reputation for outstanding local government
• Serve as the contact point for external marketing

Fostering Workforce Development

• Develop a Career Path Program for every child
• Retain employees by improving the quality of life in the City
• Use stable housing supply to promote job creation and retention

Implementing Structural Changes

• Consolidate economic development at the regional government level
• Realign management of the economic development programs
  • Syracuse Hancock International Airport
  • Central Business District Parking Garages
  • Syracuse Crescent development
• Create a Joint Venture private foundation with the County

4. Education

For Syracuse to progress on economic development, housing, crime, employment, and youth development, the whole community must make a commitment to the schools today. The next Mayor must have a strategic and balanced approach for working with the District to improve our schools.

Accountability will be the hallmark of my Administration’s approach to education reform. The State, the City, the District and the entire community must be held accountable for improving the education of our children.

Specifically, as Mayor, I will work to:

• Establish a strong partnership with the District
• Provide funding for a complete review of the finances and management of the District
• Consolidate like functions between the City and the District.
• Appropriate additional City funding and develop 3-year budget planning
• Require a local maintenance of effort
• Secure additional State aid for improving school performance
• Advocate for equitable funding of Charter Schools
• Promote the establishment of Neighborhood and Community Schools
• Market the Syracuse City School District.

Furthermore, while the Superintendent and the School Board will continue to be directly responsible for setting the academic and curricular priorities within the District, the Mayor must lead the way in supporting the District in the following:

• Improve student performance
• Reduce the dropout rate
• Ensure safe and healthy schools
• Reduce teacher-to-pupil ratios
• Promote early childhood education
• Enhance professional development for educators and administrators
• Develop a strategic plan for building and infrastructure improvements.

Finally, the Mayor must call on parents and the community, including private businesses and not-for-profits, higher educational institutions and religious organizations, to become directly involved with our schools and the educational performance of every child. Parents and the community can be directly involved with changing the course of our city schools by:

• Active involvement with the Community Schools initiative
• Volunteer to mentor and tutor our students
• Establish private-public partnerships

5. Fiscal Planning and Management

The Mayor is the Chief Executive Officer of one of the largest organizations in the community. As such, the Mayor oversees $450 million of annual revenue, taxable assets of more than $3.5 billion, employment of more than 6,000 people in city government and the City School District, all with an obligation to provide services to the 147,000 residents of the city and 43,000 separate properties. Add to this 280,000 calls responded to by the police department, 100 fire responses and 7,000 first-responder medical emergency calls by the fire department, and the complexity of the planning and management challenge takes shape.

The Structural Budget Deficit

The structural budget deficit is real. It will continue to be an annual problem until the structural variables that create it are controlled. One contributing cause has been reversed—the annual decline resulting from the sales tax formula established by the County ended in 2000. But the tax base is still shrinking and the financial needs are still expanding. The structural budget deficit results from the relationship of the variables. In rounded numbers, payroll amounts to over $100 million annually. The property tax generates $20 million. So a 2% increase in payroll requires a 10% increase in property taxes.

A multi-year Financial Plan

The development of a multi-year financial plan provides the basis for fiscal and management improvement. As City Auditor, I have encouraged the Mayor to present a multi-year budget, prepared with assistance from external resources. As Mayor, I will submit my first budget 98 days after taking office. It will be a multi-year plan and will incorporate program budgeting and activity-based-costing. It will establish a Fund Balance Reserve Policy and realistic sales tax revenue estimates. A multi-year plan is an effective tool in forcing fiscal discipline since the long-term effects of short-term decisions must be considered.

The City’s Credit Rating

Re-establishing the City's credit rating is dependent on achieving sustainable budgets with an annual surplus. Increasing the tax base is not an effective strategy due to the small percentage of revenue derived from property taxes. A more effective objective is to map alternative routes for funding sources. Possible routes include strengthening the City’s and School District’s grant management functions, creating more effective alliances with non-governmental entities, partnering with Onondaga County in the area of human services, and consolidating regional functions and some administrative operations with the County. This strategy will generate additional fund-balance. I will work with the Common Council to establish a Fund Balance Reserve. Based on the discussions I have had with rating agency representatives, I will build the case for a rating upgrade by citing stable budgets, a multi-year financial plan, and a fund balance reserve policy. The case will be stronger because I will present the plan myself as Mayor. When I make a commitment to achieve a financial objective that impacts the credit rating, I will be in a position to deliver on that commitment.

Administrative Reorganization

To accomplish the goals I have established, all resources must be devoted to the singular purpose. The Mayor’s office will be restructured to provide that focus.

• Education - the link between the school District and the Mayor's office.
• Neighborhood Support - the link between the neighborhoods and the Mayor's office.
• Economic Development - the link between the Mayor’s office and groups such as FOCUS Greater Syracuse, the Chamber of Commerce, Syracuse University, the medical complexes, the MDA, and MACNY.
• Marketing – the link between the City and the potential market. The City must promote itself more effectively, not only to the outside world, but also to its citizens. A coordinator for marketing will be assigned to work with all the players to attract new residents and businesses to the City.

The functions of city government will become more effective and the use of resources more efficient:

• Technological advances will provide timesaving and cost-saving methods of analysis for project planning and scheduling.
• The sharing of information across departments will afford all City departments greater access to data that will assist them in performing their daily tasks.
• Weekly staff meetings and scheduled program-area-specific staff meetings, with published updates, will establish management control,
• A policy of "billable time" for management, in which all managers have the responsibility of accountability, will improve productivity.
• More frequent and more detailed reporting will be made to the Common Council, the Board of Education, the investment community, and most importantly the general public.

6. Infrastructure

The City of Syracuse has long suffered from the lack of a concise, planned approach to the maintenance, upgrading and modernization of its infrastructure. From the drainage and sewer systems to the water system, from the arterial network of Interstates and roadways, to our once nationally recognized park system, the aging infrastructure has been dealt with in crisis mode. My tenure as Mayor will bring back a progressive approach to developing, modernizing and investing in the City's infrastructure for the present and future. The Lewis Administration action plan will include:

• The development of Neighborhood-Based Improvement Plans: improved streets; revitalized parks; bike paths; and neighborhood input.
• The modernization of drainage and sewer systems
• Upgrading the Skaneateles Water System
• Changes to the Capital Improvement Plan for the School District to accelerate the schedule for modernizing all school buildings
• The regionalization of responsibility for infrastructure such as Hancock Airport, downtown parking, and highway and arterials.

7. Metropolitan Cooperation

As Mayor, I will be aggressive at pursuing metropolitan cooperation. In my Administration, there will be a new way of thinking in the City. It will foster working with as many regional partners as possible to promote what is in the best interest of City residents and the region. The City of Syracuse is central to this region’s success. We must come together as a larger community to determine what we can do to strengthen the City. The City of Syracuse must be strong in order for our entire community to be sustainable.

The territorial approach of the past will be replaced with a new, positive approach to regionalism. As Mayor, I will take action to:

• • Promote “A New Way of Thinking” within City government
  • Implement City-County partnerships and pursue other regional partners
  • Encourage Smart Growth Initiatives
  • Market collaborative efforts to members of the community.

8. Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization

The citizens of the City should be concerned about the quality of their neighborhoods. They have seen whole neighborhoods disappear. “For Sale” signs dot the front yards in many areas where, just a few years ago, homes were sold by word of mouth. Unsold homes begin the painful spiral downward through rentals, vacancy, abandonment, and, in many cases, vandalism and fire. The value of adjacent property is drawn down the same vortex.

The Onondaga Citizens’ League 2000 Study Report states, “Housing is only part of what keeps neighborhood healthy…Visionary leadership and planning are essential ingredients to the sustainability of healthy neighborhoods.”

The Lewis Administration will improve the housing in the City by creating housing opportunities that compete effectively in the community’s housing market. The City has many homes that provide the amenities offered by “new urbanism” developments being constructed on suburban sites. There is a strong demand for the housing that the City can offer. My goal is to marshal the public resources necessary to create neighborhoods where young families will choose to live.

As Mayor, I will pursue that goal by:

• Developing a strategic design plan for each city neighborhood.
• Providing market amenities for each neighborhood.
• Capturing a portion of the suburban housing market demand.
• Reducing the out-migration of current city residents.

The resources of the City will be utilized to achieve the objectives.A senior staff member in the Mayor’s office will be responsible for Marketing. An ambitious action plan will be implemented including the following steps:

• Creating Neighborhood Improvement Plans similar to the plan for Lincoln Hill
• Providing tax exempt financing for neighborhood investment through a Community Bank
• Establishing an official relationship with the rental property owners
• Revising the assessment policy of the City to promote urban investment, including a Residential Sales index
• Providing a residential Payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) for residential investment
• Adopting design standards for stand-alone retail establishments
• Creating an Employer-Assisted Housing program to attract new homeowners
• Implementing an Equity Assurance Program in targeted neighborhoods

The marketability of urban neighborhoods is dependent on our ability to provide amenities that are not available in suburban areas at a cost that young families can afford. To take advantage of our unique urban features, the Lewis Administration will initiate the following actions:

• Promote the establishment of “Community Schools” in partnership with the County
• Organize an “Urban Market Task Force” working with the real estate industry to focus on marketing urban properties
• Commit designated areas for the development of specialized housing communities
• Support the development of and programming for parks and bikeways
• Adopt community policing to promote public safety and neighborhood stability
• Support “full-service” child support programs including neighborhood schools, extended day and year programs, and health care and infirmary services

These steps will be implemented by establishing partnerships with

• The banking industry to provide a Community Bank
• The citizens in the City’s TNT sectors comprising 26 distinct neighborhoods
• The judicial system in promoting the development of Community Courts
• The County in decentralizing services to a neighborhood base
• The historic preservation community to provide specific resources and expertise
• The Syracuse Housing Authority to sponsor Section 8 homeownership options and the conversion of conventional public housing to tenant ownership, and to support independent transitional living programs.

9. Public Safety

The Mayor of Syracuse takes an oath to protect all City residents. Personal security for all City residents is a right, not a privilege. The Lewis Administration takes the issue of public safety so seriously that one of its first priorities will be to transform the basic standard operating procedure of the Police Department to a total Community Policing model. The Lewis Administration would begin a national search the day after election for a Command Officer with practical and successful experience in the conversion of a police department to a Community-Policing model. The Syracuse Police Department in a Lewis Administration will utilize the principles of Community Policing as its standard operating procedure. Community Policing is the only realistic means for reestablishing the levels of public safety, both perceived and actual, that will convince the middle class to return to the city.

A Community Policing strategy will limit our potential for intermunicipal cost sharing. Community Policing focuses police resources on neighborhoods. Police establish a relationship with the citizens. And the people in the neighborhoods come to know the police personally. This system precludes sharing police services with other municipalities.

Functions that have a regional dimension, however, do require inter-municipal cooperation. For example, New York State has existing strict gun control laws. Enforcement of existing gun control laws will be an absolute priority for the Lewis Administration. In cooperation with the School District, the District Attorney, the courts, ATF, the State and other law enforcement agencies within the region, a Zero Tolerance program for illegal guns will be developed.

The Lewis Administration will be committed to supporting the Citizens Review Board. The Citizens Review Board has been hampered by a number of problems. But Community Policing will make it possible to redefine the relationship between the police and the citizenry. Potentially, a Citizens Review Board working directly with the Chief of Police with support from the Mayor’s office would have a more positive impact.

10. Youth Development

As Mayor, I will address youth development needs from birth through the teen years. I would promote and support pre-natal and parenting programs. I will also encourage the development of apprenticeship and job training programs to give teens who are not necessarily on a college track other positive educational opportunities that would provide them with skills they need for work. In addition, I will support the establishment of recreational activities in order to encourage positive character development, and I will make sure that these programs are established where the highest-risk youths live and spend their free time – so the programs are easily known and accessible to them. Lastly, I will fully support a variety of mentoring and violence prevention programs.

11. Key Challenge: Leadership

Every serious Mayoral candidate favors better schools, stronger neighborhoods with decent housing, economic development, etc. The next Mayor must have a vision, a strategy, and the courage to implement real solutions to address the ongoing challenges that face our community. Leadership from the Mayor will be critical to success in each and every one of these areas.

Beyond having a strategic plan for Syracuse, I will demonstrate leadership as Mayor. I am committed to:

• Move beyond partisan politics and work collaboratively on behalf of the City and School District
• Recruit the best and the brightest to work in City Hall
• Improve communication with the community and increase resident participation in City government and neighborhood forums
• Measure City government’s performance
• Be accountable and available to the citizens
• Market the City to current and potential residents and businesses

Many of the necessary elements are at our fingertips – we need strong and committed leadership to bring much-needed improvement. As Mayor, I, Minch Lewis, will be that leader.