Where is the Onondaga County Legislature's 15th district?
The 15th district includes portions of Syracuse's Eastside, University, Outer Comstock, Valley, Elmwood, Strathmore, Southwest and Near West Side neighborhoods.
Maurice Mo Brown is running for the newly formed 15th district seat in the Onondaga County Legislature.
Brown, who will be listed on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines on the ballot, started in politics by volunteering for the Bernie Sanders campaign in 2015.
Sanders’ message, particularly around income inequality, pushed Brown to become increasingly involved in politics.
Brown will face Mo Moodie who is running on the People First Party line.
Brown is running for a seat in the legislature because he thinks the county needs substantial change. He says that the county doesn’t do enough for its constituents. If elected Brown says he will prioritize investments in housing and transportation. He is focused on finding ways to address the county’s lead crisis, its housing shortage, and the development of a robust transportation system.
Do you think deputy John Rosello acted properly by shooting and killing two teens, why/why not?
No, I do not think the deputy acted properly. His life was not in danger, and he should not have approached the vehicle without having proper backup, etc. Also, his body cam should have been on. Whenever these incidents occur we need to make sure there’s a comprehensive investigation and that we hold officers accountable when they’re found of wrongdoing.
Does the sheriff’s office have enough accountability mechanisms in place, what would you change in this regard?
Not yet. We need a citizens’ review board for the county because, just like every other part of government, law enforcement is ultimately accountable to the people they serve. Thankfully, we do have the greatest accountability mechanism in place which are elections. If I’m elected, I want to be on the public safety committee to make sure we have greater accountability for the sheriff’s office, including by creating a new citizens’ review board.
Should Jamesville be closed? What changes should be made at the downtown jail?
This is an issue that is far more complex than I realized before I did my homework and I am still learning more every day. Based on what I’ve learned, I think the closure of Jamesville Correctional Facility feels rushed and I don’t think enough time was spent consulting the staff at the facility, as well as the incarcerated individuals and their families. I think an entire public comment period needs to happen as far as what next steps should be. We should bring in groups like the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Community Alternatives, Unchained and others who work with these populations regularly and have more knowledge on it than I do.
For example: I was told that the Onondaga County Justice Center doesn’t have the same facilities as Jamesville in reference to their incarcerated female population. We need to ensure that the staff is properly compensated and I do think we need to have those conversations before we take action and cast votes.
Does Onondaga County have enough housing? How will you propose to build more?
No, Onondaga County does not have enough housing. I want to propose that we treat housing as seriously as we do economic development. Housing has not been prioritized on a proper scale at the county level. I’m unsure if it ever has been. We need an aquarium-sized investment in housing, instead of into an aquarium. As I keep saying, budgets are moral documents. They tell us the government’s priorities. And right now, our priorities are backwards. We need housing for people, not fish.
The saying I come back to is “more housing is always the right choice.” The question for us is what’s the best way to create more housing. There’s a public developer model that Montgomery County has implemented, which is being explored by the City of Syracuse. I think this is our best path forward. In my conversations with housing experts, they tell me that housing is simply more profitable when it’s luxury housing or student housing and that’s why developers build it. But our communities need more low income and affordable housing. The public developer model allows municipalities to act as the developers and our priority doesn’t have to be maximizing profit, instead we should focus on maximizing housing availability.
What does smart development around Micron look like to you? What solutions will you propose to fight sprawl?
I think smart development prepares our community for what’s coming next. I think Micron has done a good job engaging with the community and I’m confident those efforts will continue. I think we need to prepare our workforce to be ready for when Micron is opening. Yes, that means training folks for the jobs that will be ready, but it also means engaging with Centro and making sure our bus routes are ready. It means adding more housing so that when Micron’s specialists relocate to Syracuse, they don’t add to our housing crisis. We fight sprawl by encouraging development in corridors along existing town centers.
How can the county facilitate better public transportation inside/outside of the city?
This is not an oversimplification — our county needs to prioritize transportation in our budget. We need to create a transportation committee and that committee should work with groups like the Syracuse Metropolitan Transportation Council, and the Moving People Transportation Coalition. The specifics do matter, but the way the county can help is by making an aquarium-sized investment into transportation instead of an aquarium. Budgets are priority documents, if you show me your budget, I can tell you your priorities and in my opinion, right now ours are indefensible.
What more can the county do to fight Syracuse’s lead crisis?
I am going to sound like a broken record, but the thing the county can do to fight the lead crisis is prioritizing the lead crisis in the county budget. Our county’s budget this year included about $2.5 million in new money to combat lead poisoning, about $12 million total to fight lead. I have to compare this number to the $13 million going to a new marina. I have to compare this number to the $80 million going into the new aquarium project. Yet another example of backwards priorities in our county budget. We have to prioritize ending the poisoning of our children ahead of building a fancy fish tank.
What topic would receive more attention if you were elected?
I’m sure this won’t come as a surprise — the county’s budget — specifically as it relates to transportation and housing. I don’t think our county has done a good enough job in either of those areas. We talk a lot about workforce development, which is important, but if you can’t get to work because our bus system is underfunded, or you can’t go home to a safe and affordable home, the training will always fall short as far as helping individuals combat poverty. I’ve been out in neighborhoods listening to the people of the 15th district and I know this is what they need because they tell me it’s what they need. Budgets are priority documents and it’s time to align the county budgets with the priorities of the people who live here.
