Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon plans to appoint Rich McCarron to fill an open seat in the county Legislature’s 11th District.
The seat was vacated when Legislator John McBride resigned and took a job as a senior management analyst in the county’s finance department.
McBride had not been planning a re-election run. The Republican party in February designated McCarron to run for McBride’s seat. Democrats have so far not designated a candidate for the seat.
McCarron is originally from Brooklyn and attended Le Moyne College. He worked for 20 years as an Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office deputy and has spent the last 11 years as a realtor.
“Obviously, I’m the junior guy. So I think my main job right now is to keep my ears open and my mouth shut,” McCarron said. “I’ve got a learning curve a few months into the year already.”
McCarron said he has two early policy focuses: public safety and housing.
He said the sheriff’s office is in a “transitional” phase with the impending closure of Jamesville Correctional Facility.
McCarron also said he disagrees with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal that could allow the state to bypass local zoning restrictions to build housing.
Hochul proposed building 800,000 more units of housing in New York with requirements for local municipalities. Developers could bypass local zoning restrictions to build projects with state help if municipalities don’t hit their goals under Hochul’s proposal.
“I don’t support when New York tries to come in and govern local entities. I’m truly conservative in that belief,” McCarron said. “I believe sometimes less government regulation is better government.”
Read more about the Onondaga County Legislature
Onondaga County legislator John McBride takes county job, resigns from Legislature
McBride had not been planning a re-election run this year.
