Nyatwa Bullock, a former commissioner on the Syracuse City School District's Board of Education, plans to run for a seat on the Onondaga County Legislature. Credit: Courtesy of Nyatwa Bullock

Former Syracuse City School District Board of Education Commissioner Nyatwa Bullock plans to run for an Onondaga County Legislature seat set to be vacated. 

Bullock plans to run in the legislature’s 16th District, currently represented by Legislator Charles Garland, who made a bid for chair of the next legislature. Democrats instead backed newcomer Nicole Watts. He announced he plans to step down at the end of 2026, also the end of his term. 

Garland said that he had decided not to run again in order to focus on helping the incoming legislature Democrats get re-elected in just under a year. 

Legislature candidates again in 2026 have to campaign for their seats. Legislature terms will expand to four years and elections will be moved to even years, meaning all candidates who won their races in 2025 will have to run again in 2026. 

Garland had previously promised to not run again for his seat if he could become chair, he said. 

“That was the promise I made: If I was made chair, I would not run again,” said Garland. “I don’t have to become chair to keep a promise.” 

South Side legislator, displaced by urban renewal as a kid, reps district at a crossroads

During Garland’s term, he was the only Democrat on the county legislature to vote to build the aquarium — a decision he made because County Executive Ryan McMahon promised to invest in the Southside and the city.

“That’s an albatross that I wear around my neck,” Garland said in November of his decision to vote for the aquarium.

Three terms was enough, Garland said. Garland’s mother has had several strokes this past year, and he wanted to spend more time with her. 

Bullock had already made her decision to run before Garland’s impending departure was reported, she said. After seeing Garland’s announcement, she decided not to wait to make her own. 

Charles Garland speaks to the media at Wilson Park in Syracuse, November 22, 2022. Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current

Bullock is a lifelong Southside resident. Her grandfather built the Southside house she lives in today. She has a background in organizing, previously pushing the state to eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing. Her experiences give her a “boost” in understanding the community and government, Bullock said. 

She believes she can do more as a legislator to help the community than as a commissioner, she said. Bullock cited homelessness as one example. 

“I can give out information for different resources, but once the money is gone, the money is gone,” said Bullock. “If there’s not an agency or if something’s not there, I can’t create that on this level.” 

Bullock said she hopes to create a Southside small business fund to support a range of businesses, from barbershops to restaurants to real estate. She also hopes to find funding to invest year round in more youth jobs. 

She said she is interested in working on housing, adding that she hears “both sides” of the issue. 

Bullock is a landlord, but in the past, worked as a community ambassador helping to get tenants’ issues fixed through city government and code enforcement, she said. She hopes that the landlords might use the small business fund when, for example, a hot water tank breaks and the tenant doesn’t pay.

“Now you have a lot of landlords who just want to sell,” she said. “Now we’re opening back up to outside investors, people who don’t know our community, because [the landlords] are so fed up.” 

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Laura Robertson is a staff reporter covering Onondaga County. Prior to joining Central Current, she lived on the edge of the Bering Strait in Nome, Alaska, where she worked as a reporter for a year. She...