Tim Rudd, the Syracuse mayoral candidate who publicly made and defended racist comments about his boss, Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens, has been fired by the city, city spokesperson Greg Loh said Monday.

The former city budget director was placed on paid administrative leave Jan. 31 while the city investigated an unnamed alleged policy violation. 

Loh did not immediately confirm if the investigation into Rudd was prompted by comments Rudd made in a conversation with local real estate developer Norm Roth, in which he made a racist analogy about Owens.

In a conversation between Rudd and Roth, whom Rudd openly describes as a mentor, Rudd said Owens was politically vulnerable. 

Rudd said to Roth that Owens is the most likely candidate to win the mayorship on paper, but that her proximity to a whistleblower complaint accusing the city of using a company as a pass through, among other city issues presided by the current mayoral administration, would be hard for voters to overlook.

Roth then remarked that Black voters will be key during the election. Rudd interrupted Roth and claimed he will win over Black men voters by stoking racial resentment toward Owens that Rudd says “is already in the ether.” Rudd said his resignation letter would have accused Owens of being involved with the failures of the payroll modernization project outlined in the whistleblower complaint. Rudd’s racist remarks were first reported by Syracuse.com

“Depending who you talk to, there are people, especially men, who think of the Willie Lynch concept and the white slave owner who uses the mother to break the children and control them,” Rudd said in the recording. “I don’t need to say it quite that clearly. I can say it with a dog whistle, right? But that is already in the ether for Sharon, OK?”

Rudd then said that he has a very diverse network of support who will “vouch for me to a tee,” he added. 

The conversation is part of a series of recordings provided to media outlets and posted to YouTube where Rudd outlines his plan to win the mayoral race. The former city budget director spent January openly mulling a run for mayor, meeting with fixtures of the local Democratic and Republican parties to sell them on his vision for the city. Some of the politicos who heard Rudd’s pitch include longtime Onondaga County Democratic Committee member Tony Malavenda, and former County Republican Committee Chair Joe Carni. Malavenda is a Central Current board member and donor. 


“The statements attributed to him in local media and in his own social media posts, which he does not deny making, are racist, disrespectful and demeaning,” Loh said in a statement to Central Current. “They are inconsistent with the city’s expectations—especially for those in a management role.”

On Monday afternoon, Rudd uploaded a recording of his conversation with Chief Administrative Officer Corey Driscoll Dunham, who informed him of his termination. He wrote on a Facebook post that no reason was given for his termination and seemed irked that Walsh didn’t directly fire him.  

“He is a coward,” Rudd said in his post. “They provided me no justification and it is my belief that this is retaliation for me not joining their conspiracy to defraud taxpayers.”

During Rudd’s call with Dunham, the city’s new chief administrative officer, Driscoll asked Rudd for context on his comments about Owens. At the end of the call, Dunham informed Rudd he had been fired. 

In an email circulated to city department heads, Driscoll reiterated Loh’s explanation for Rudd’s termination. 

Local elected leaders and party officials have largely remained silent on Rudd’s comments. City Auditor Alex Marion is the only city official or mayoral candidate who has called for Rudd’s resignation, releasing a statement condemning Rudd’s statements.

Owens’ campaign manager Joe Rossi emailed a statement to Central Current Sunday, writing that Owens has endured “relentless, vile attacks for months.” 

“She does not deserve this and she should not have to dignify this disgraceful behavior

with a response—but the silence from others is deafening,” Rossi wrote. 

Rossi also called Rudd’s behavior reckless, labeling his rhetoric as corrosive. 

“…and it is evident he needs help,” Rossi wrote. “Those propping him up are complicit, using his unraveling for their own cynical political gains. To those still silent: Where is your

conscience? Stand up, or history will remember your failure to do so.”

In his crusade to present himself to voters as the righteous insider candidate with uncompromising morals, Rudd has made headlines for his mayoral campaign in the past month. He has bounced between party affiliations, registering with the GOP and claiming he did it as a “Republican In Name Only.” Republicans then expelled him from the local committee.

Rudd has since sharpened his rhetoric toward Owens and Mayor Ben Walsh in Facebook posts and recorded conversations posted to his Youtube channel. 

Initially, Rudd’s criticisms of the administration were directed toward the administration’s role in the city’s issues with its payroll modernization program. His language then shifted to attacks on the ethics of Walsh and Owens.

In a lengthy Facebook post on Feb. 3, Rudd accused Owens of being involved in the failures of a yearslong, $10 million effort to modernize the city’s payroll systems. Rudd alleged his boss  failed to act after a whistleblower accused the city of using her contracting company as a “pass-through” to contract with Ernst & Young, a multinational consultant. 

“Based on these events, I have reached the conclusion that Sharon lacks the moral courage to lead our city that already has too few dollars to address the problems we face,” Rudd wrote.

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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...