Republican Bonnke Sekarore is running to be the Onondaga County Legislature's 9th District representative. He faces Kenyata Calloway and Nicole Watts. Credit: Courtesy of Bonnke Sekarore

Editor’s note: If you’d like to read about Bonnke Sekarore’s opponents, you can read about Kenyata Calloway here and Nicole Watts here. Central Current’s election coverage is supported in part by a grant from the Health Foundation for Western and Central New York.

Seventeen years ago, Bonnke Sekarore found a home in Syracuse’s North Side. Now, he’s running to represent that neighborhood in the Onondaga County Legislature.

Sekarore is running on the Republican Party’s ballot line in the 9th District Legislative race. He’s facing two Democrats, though neither holds that party’s ballot line. After the local Republican Party successfully challenged incumbent Democrat Palmer Harvey’s petitions to appear on the Democratic Party’s ballot line, Harvey dropped out of the race, leaving Kenyata Calloway and Nicole Watts to run on independent ballot lines. Watts, the Working Families Party-endorsed candidate, is also running on an independent “Northside Rising” ballot line.

Sekarore came to the United States nearly two decades ago, fleeing violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Though he may have been a refugee upon arrival, and though he seeks to support and represent Syracuse’s New Americans, Sekarore perceives his Congolese origins as a past life.

His present life as an American began on Syracuse’s North Side.

“People say, ‘what does it feel to be a refugee, to be an immigrant?’ I don’t see myself as such. That was my former life. This is my country now,” Sekarore said. “This is the country that I love, the country that took me in when the country that gave birth to me tried to kill me.”

After years in a refugee camp in Burundi, Sekarore arrived in Syracuse with next to nothing, and not a word of English. He attended fifth-grade at Dr. King Elementary School, 6th grade at Levi Elementary School, and 7th and 8th grades at H.W. Smith Elementary School, before graduating in 2016 from Fowler High School.

“This country took me in and made me its son. So I’m running because I love this country, and I love my neighborhood,” Sekarore said. “The people of the North Side have been neglected. And I’m running because I care about improving the quality of life for all North-Siders, and I care about the quality of life for Onondaga County as a whole.”

Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Central Current: How will you make up for the potential lack of funding for the aquarium?

Bonnke Sekarore: Well, I know the aquarium is a very divisive project for many people in our county. The project that’s been approved was approved way before my time, way before my time.

What I can tell you is that there’s a lot of problems that we need to focus on in Onondaga County – our problems with mental health crisis, drug issues. We got prostitution everywhere now. We got lead paint in water now and pipes. Crime is rising right now. We have so many issues that we need to focus on. 

So my focus right now is on the people of the North Side who have been neglected, who are facing those issues that I’ve just mentioned, that is my focus right now. So my first order of business will be on how I can improve the quality of life for North Siders.

CC: How will you handle the loss of funding to services like SNAP and Medicaid?

Sekarore: Again, that’s a federal issue. 

There are demographics among us who need help. The way I think about it, there are three vulnerable demographics. That’s children, and that is our senior population, and also our disabled population. So those three demographics need our attention. That should get all of our support, all of our attention.

Definitely it’s something that I want to see us concentrate on, with those three demographics. 

First of all, I will talk to people in charge of those programs, and see where the issues are. Children services, senior services, disability services – I’ll talk to those departments to see where the issues are, and to see where the gap is, and how big the gap is. And then I’ll come to the County, and see our local dollars, and see what it is we can do.

But all I can tell you is that I am committed to making sure that those three demographics are not being neglected.

CC: The Legislature passed two resolutions to transfer a parcel of land along Onondaga Lake to the Onondaga Nation. As a legislator, do you believe you have a role in facilitating a transfer? If so, what is that role?

Sekarore: This is Onondaga County. We’re named after Onondaga Nation.

This land, like many of the lands that us Americans live on now, are essential lands of Native Americans. So we have to acknowledge that, and give them that right, the privilege, because it’s factual. 

This is their ancestral lands. What I love about this country is that all of us are immigrants. All of us are immigrants. Unless you’re a Native American, all of us are immigrants. That’s what I love about this country, and that’s what makes this country great, by the way. 

County Legislature is the lawmaking body of this county. So if something like that were to happen, it is obvious. It is by default that the County Legislature will have a big say in it. We’re representing 17 districts that make up Onondaga County. We are the voices of the people of Onondaga County. And something that significant, of course, should come from the County Legislature, who are the microphones of the people of Onondaga County. 

So, it is only right that the County Legislators, along with the County Executive, sit at a table with the chiefs of the Onondaga Nation and discuss proposals. It is important that we keep in mind the Native Americans of Onondaga County, who are our neighbors. Because this country, or this land, belongs to all of us now – but of course, They are thenatives to this country.

Even though many of us have been here for generations and generations, we are all immigrants. We came at a different time. But no matter your political affiliation, we can all agree that the Native Americans are the natives to this land that we call home now.

CC: In a hypothetical scenario where federal funding for Onondaga County is conditioned on the basis of the County Sheriff’s Office cooperating with ICE operations, would you be in favor of supporting that collaboration? Why or why not?

Sekarore: It’s a very sensitive time right now in the US, given what’s happening at the federal level. 

My loyalty is not with anybody’s affiliation. My loyalty is to the people of Onondaga County. My loyalty is particularly to the people of the North Side. I will not do anything that hurts my people. I will always do everything I can to maximize benefits, maximize opportunities, maximize the quality of life for the people of Onondaga County, particularly for the people of the North Side. 

I don’t like to deal in hypotheticals. I really don’t.

All I can say is that, unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot – there is some stuff we can do to stop the federal government, or to or to repel the federal government – but you have to remember that we’re talking about the federal government.

The federal government versus the county government. How many counties are in the United States of America? How many counties are in new York State alone? The counties answer to the state, the state answers to the federal. There’s a chain of command in anything, and we’re talking about the big dog versus the little dog. We have to be honest. You have to be realistic.

Any resolutions that come to my table, I will always make the best judgment that’s going to help the people of Onondaga County, and the people of the North Side. Your question is hypothetical, and I rather not deal in hypotheticals.

CC: As Micron ramps up, how do you plan to monitor and ensure that Micron lives up to its lofty promises to protect Central New York’s bountiful natural life?

Sekarore: That’s very important.

I know there’s already environmental studies being done. I have not had a chance to read the environmental study, but I know it’s out there. But having a clean environment is critical. We saw what happened to Onondaga Lake. We’ve been spending years and years cleaning it. Now, I don’t think it’s safe to swim in there. It’s not safe to eat the fish from there. We definitely don’t want to see that happening with our beautiful waters again. 

Moving forward, that’s not going to happen. I will be in favor of even having an independent body audit the factories and see what’s happening, to make sure that the environment is clean, that our foods and our waters are not being contaminated. So definitely, it’s something we need to keep an eye on. 

I think having Micron here, first of all, it’s a huge win for the county. It’s a huge win for Central New York. I commend Ryan McMahon and his team to have worked hard in getting them here. I think it’s going to be a great job creation for all Central New Yorkers. 

My only wish and my only hope – and one thing that I will push for – is to make sure that they hire locally. Obviously, I know that they’re having clean rooms at Syracuse universities and OCC but I really, really, really want to see them commit to hiring a certain quota from Central New York. 

I’m going to be pushing hard, pushing our high school students from city schools. I’m a product of a city school. One way we can get out of poverty is to make sure that our children are getting good, paying jobs. And how does that happen? That happens by upskilling them. Make sure that they have the right skills needed to work at companies like Micron. 

This is a huge opportunity for Central New York for job creation, for better paying jobs. So Micron coming here, first of all, I have to acknowledge that it’s a good thing. Secondly, I’m going to be doing everything I can to make sure that the people of Central New York are ready to take on those jobs. 

As far as the environmental concern, we’re going to hold them accountable. We’re going to make sure that those environmental studies are transparent for every New Yorker, and if necessary, I’ll be willing to work with a third party auditor to make sure that they’re following the rules.

CC: If ICE approaches Onondaga County and requests sensitive information to aid in what it says is a “criminal investigation” – and refuses to provide more details – should Onondaga County furnish sensitive data from a department like DSS to federal authorities with unclear motives?

Sekarore: I’m being elected to be a county legislator. Again, that is a federal question. 

My job is to govern Onondaga County, a section of Onondaga County. I know you said that’s not a hypothetical question, because ICE has been active.

Again, I’m not dismissing the activity. I’m not saying that there’s not activity from ICE. There certainly is from ICE. 

The federal government can find out anything they want to find out, whether I like it or not. I don’t think that a County Legislature withholding information from federal agents is going to stop them from finding out that information. And that’s also not hypothetical. They have different means of getting information. 

Their manpower and the resources they have to investigate and charge people, I imagine, is above the resources that our county has. That’s for sure. That’s not hypothetical, either. That is also true. 

If I tell you here today that I’m going to do everything in my vote to stop Trump, to stop ICE, it’s not going to happen. “Elect Bonnke and ICE is gone, I’m going to snub the federal government.” That’s not going to happen.If that’s my platform, then I’m lying to people. I am absolutely lying to people.

As I said, my priority is to utilize the means that I have, the resources that we have, the power given to me by the people, to improve the quality of life for North Siders. I talked about crime issues that we have, lead paint, mental health.

On Butternut Street, we got people struggling with mental health, drug issues, prostitution. Right in the open, you got kids playing soccer, and on that same corner, you got girls waiting to be picked up. 

The quality of life has decreased significantly for the people in the North Side. I’ve met a lot of people who can’t wait to move out. They’re leaving every day – at least those with the means to do so. Those are the priorities. By the way, there are few who have the means to leave, given the inflation, and lack of everything. Those are the issues that I’m concerned about. Those are the issues that I’m focusing on. And those are the issues that we should be focusing on as County Legislators, especially those in charge of the people of Syracuse, because my district happens to be all in the city of Syracuse. That is my priority.

My priority is not Donald Trump, and that is the reality of it. My priority is not ICE. I’m not dismissing the significance, or the worry of the threat that they pose to certain demographics. I’m not dismissing that, but what I’m saying is that the bigger issues are what I’ve just listed, and that’s going to be my priorities. 

Because anybody whose platform is on stopping the federal government’s mandate, I’m telling you – don’t believe them, because it’s not true. Anybody who’s running for this position that tells that their platform is to stop the federal government, to stop ICE, if that is their platform, if that’s what they’re promising you, I promise you that it’s not going to happen. They’re lying to you. They’re lying to themselves, and they know it. We all know it. 

The federal government is bigger than the county government. We have a lot of issues in Onondaga County we need to concentrate on.

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Patrick McCarthy is a staff reporter at Central Current covering government and politics. A graduate of Syracuse University’s Maxwell and Newhouse Schools, McCarthy was born and raised in Syracuse and...