Watch mayoral candidates clash at Central Current’s 2025 Democratic primary forum (video)

Central Current on Thursday hosted a forum between the three Democratic candidates for mayor: Syracuse Common Councilor Pat Hogan, Councilor Chol Majok, and Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens.

The candidates will compete in a June 24 primary election. The winner will join an already crowded general election field. The Republican Party designated Tom Babilon as its candidate, and Alfonso Davis and Tim Rudd will run on independent lines.

In March, the Democratic Party designated Hogan as the party’s choice. Owens is the Working Families Party’s designee, and could challenge Hogan and others on that line in the general race should she lose the June primary. 

Over 200 people attended Thursday’s forum at the Everson.

The debate covered housing policy, government transparency, the city budget process, and the city’s relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, among other topics.

Opening Statements

Hogan: Good evening, everybody. I guess civic engagement isn’t that dead in Syracuse. It’s heartening to see a crowd like this, and I see people that I used to work with at a city, and people I work with now. 

As everybody knows my name is Pat Hogan. I’m running for mayor. Everybody knows I love this city, and I always have. I love the neighborhoods of the city, the neighborhoods I grew up in, played ball in, raised a family in. 

I also love the people of Syracuse. I love their candor, I love their wit and their wisdom. We have great opportunities coming at us from up North. We got the I-81 project, and we got the Micron project, and we must seize these opportunities. 

Unfortunately, sometimes we have issues, too. We have a water system that still has lead in it and leaks. We have a payroll modernization system that was presented to us by this administration that wasted $10 million, and didn’t modernize anything. If elected, I will have an accountable, responsible city government. Thank you.

Majok: Good evening. It’s good to see all of you today. My name is Dr. Chol Majok. I am an experienced legislator and a trained executive leader. As we move forward, I want to lead Syracuse into a future where families thrive, neighborhoods flourish, and opportunities are accessible. 

Syracuse needs a new beginning  – a new beginning from mismanagement and fair leadership strategies. As your next mayor, I will use my workforce and organizational development experience to uplift Syracuse out of poverty. Thank you,

Owens: Good evening, and thank you for being here. Thank you Central current. Thank you Everson. Thank you all for again showcasing downtown Syracuse. I’m Sharon Owens, and I am running to be your next mayor of this city. We are absolutely in a moment. We are here to take advantage of that moment to ensure that all of us collectively benefit from the 81 project from micron.

And both of those initiatives, in preparing our individuals and preparing our residents for the opportunities to come, I have been forefront in those efforts to train our folks, to get them prepared for this next generation opportunity. 

It is not about theory for me, it is about rolling the sleeves up and getting the work done, and that’s what I’ve been doing, and that’s what I will continue to do, for the people of Syracuse, for this city that adopted me and took me on as its daughter. Thank you.

Scenarios

Central Current asked the candidates four questions inspired by scenarios faced by current or former mayors in Syracuse and other cities.

Let’s start with something far-fetched. As mayor, you propose a budget. The Common Council expresses – in your estimation – that it doesn’t want to work with you and plans to make major cuts. What do you do?

Majok: Well as mayor, it is an opportunity for me. And what I’ll do with it is knowing that getting into this role will require making tough decisions. And making those tough decisions include making sure that Syracuse is in a well positioned financially to be able to get to a point where I am proposing a budget. 

I need to be able to engage the councilors early on, making sure that every decision I make, that it keeps the welfare of our city in mind. Now, leadership requires that we do not react emotionally, because with emotion, you lose the opportunity to make collaboration. That’s what happened in this budget season, and I will not make that mistake. Thank you.

Owens: The process for establishing the budget of the city of Syracuse entails going to the experts of that budget, which are the people who actually run the departments, the department heads. And as mayor, that is where I will start. 

There is a process for engaging the council. It’s called the hearings. And in those hearings are the opportunities for our department heads – who are the experts in each area of expertise around service to the city – and in those hearings is the opportunity to ask the questions necessary to pose the opportunities for cuts or modifications to those services, and to hear from them what that impact would be. There’s an existing process, and as mayor, I would ensure that process, my department heads are ready for that process, to present to the Council.

Hogan: Well, I’ll do what they did in the past. Mayors I worked with would call the council leadership in, go over all the figures, financial figures, and tell them what they plan to do. And then after the council engaged in – like this year, we engaged in I think it was 27 meetings with the department heads – then when you would come together as what’s needed, as far as the budget goes.

An atrocity happens overseas that affects a wide swath of local New Americans, prompting them to ask that the council condemn the atrocity with a resolution. A local special interest group asks you to meet privately to persuade you to advocate against the resolution. Do you meet privately with the group, why or why not?

Owens: I think it would be important. Atrocities overseas, particularly regarding the diversity of our community, require the higher the necessity to meet with a variety of groups, not just one or another. 

The role of the city of Syracuse and the role of the mayor is to hear out all of our constituents and their concerns around events and issues, whether they are foreign or domestic. I would not identify or isolate that conversation to one particular interest group, but to meet with everyone to ensure that I’m hearing the concerns of all the people of the city of Syracuse.

Hogan: Well as Mayor of the City of Syracuse, you’re cognizant that you represent people from very different, different nationalities, ethnicities, and you have to keep that always in mind. 

I would meet with people, I would meet people all the time. 

But as far as any kind of public declaration, one way or another, I wouldn’t do it. I believe Mayor is concerned with what’s happening in the city of Syracuse, and local issues only, not international issues.

Majok: Syracuse is 13 to 20% new Americans. Syracuse is an international city. To me, it’s important that we reflect that in the decisions we make as a city, starting from the mayor to city council to community organization. 

Now out of that process, if there’s a group in the community with an impacted interest internationally that is here and is asking me to meet with them, I will respect their wish and their wishes. If they want to meet privately, I will meet with them privately. If they want to meet publicly, I will meet with them publicly. 

But it’s important that Syracuse incorporate everyone that lives here, and that includes the new American, and everyone that come to Syracuse looking for second chances in life and their family.

The manufacturer of a surveillance technology used by the Syracuse Police Department announced it will share all the data it collects with ICE. What do you do?

Hogan: Well, when I’m mayor, I’ll find out exactly what they’re sharing. I would meet with the police chief, obviously. 

I think the question is that the police department, SPD, shares information with the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department, state police and the federal authorities.

So I would have to find out exactly – I’m a city councilor I’m not aware, maybe the deputy mayor is aware of – exactly what kind of information that they share and how pertinent it is to certain crimes.

Majok: If there’s a data that need to be shared with the community, it should be shared with the community. If there’s a data, for example, we live in a city where there’s a lot of new Americans, and the Sheriff, the Police Department, all our law enforcement have some of that data that is sensitive.

 If there is a law enforcement, such as ICE, for example, looking for that data, I would make sure that there’s a court order before we release that.

 But if there should be a process in which SPD has to be able to share information that is pertinent to the community and to the community consumption. 

There is also a research world out there that is always looking for data, they should be able to have the access to those data as much as they can, protecting the privacy of individuals.

Owens: The Syracuse Police Department has a policy that they do not act as ICE agents. That is not what the taxpayers pay them to do. 

As far as data is concerned, the Onondaga County Crime Analysis Center, OCCAC, is where all data from all law enforcement entities in our county go to. That department is funded by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. 

If there is any concern that that data is being shared with ICE agents on the federal level, Commissioner Rosado was in town just yesterday. I shook hands with her. I talked to her. I know her. I would absolutely get on the phone and talk to her about the concern of the citizens and the Mayor of the City of Syracuse of sharing that data.

Tom Homan, the former acting director of ICE, plans a trip to Syracuse to host a press conference. He asks for you to appear with him at a press conference. What do you do?

Correction: At the forum, Tom Homan was referred to as the “acting director of ICE,” rather than as the former acting director of ICE. Homan is also President Donald Trump’s “border czar.” Central Current regrets this error.

Majok: So, as somebody that is a naturalized citizen, anytime ICE asks for me, I’ll be concerned.

So, with that being said, I would know what I suspect: where are we meeting, why are we meeting?

So I’ll be very skeptical why, but I still have to do the business of the city.

Central Current: To be clear, would you appear with Homan? Would you appear with him at the press conference?

Majok: If it is what is needed for the people of Syracuse to be done, I would do it.

Owens: Would I appear with him? It would depend on why he’s here. If he’s here to harm the residents of this city, to councilor Majok’s point, Why are you here? What is the purpose of your being here? 

If it is to demand we rescind our policies around how our police department act? No, I won’t appear with you. If it is to tell me that there are criminal entities in our community that you’ve identified – that more importantly, I trust our police have identified – I will work with you and meet with you.

Hogan: My son’s 37 today. He’s married into a large Mexican-American family in Dallas, Texas. 

So this is personal to me. I think there’d be a fishing derby down at Onondaga Park that day – and any day, there’d be a fishing derby that I’d have to attend – rather than appear for that with that man.

Trivia

Central Current asked 14 Syracuse-based trivia questions — some statistical and some cultural. The candidates were given whiteboards and dry-erase markers, and they were allotted 15 seconds per question to write down their answer before turning it over and showing the audience. Answers to any data questions were pulled directly from city, county and public agency websites.

Is crime up or down this year compared to the same time last year?

Hogan: Up

Majok: Up

Owens: Down

Correct Answer: Down about 24%, according to Syracuse Police’s COMPSTAT data

How many vacant residential homes does the city of Syracuse have?

Owens: 11,000

Majok: 12%

Hogan: 2,000

Correct Answer: 1,444, according to data from the city of Syracuse’s open data portal on the day before the forum. 

What percent of Syracuse water service lines are lead service lines?

Hogan: 15%

Majok: 20%

Owens: 40%

Correct Answer: 42%, according to data submitted by the city to the state

How many families in Syracuse rely on Section 8 housing and vouchers?

Hogan: 15,000

Majok: 17,000

Owens: 11,000

Correct Answer: About 3,500 families, according to data provided by the Syracuse Housing Authority.

How much did the city’s tax levy rise from the 2014-15 fiscal year to the 2024-25 fiscal year?

Hogan: 18%

Majok: 2%

Owens: 20%

Correct Answer: 62%, according to city budget documents. You can view the 2014-15 fiscal year budget here and the 2024-25 fiscal year budget here.

How much has the city’s revenue risen from the 2014-15 fiscal year to the 2024-25 fiscal year?

Majok: 2%

Owens: 15%

Hogan: 10%

Correct Answer: 12.2%, according to city budget documents. You can view the 2014-15 fiscal year budget here and the 2024-25 fiscal year budget here.

Correction: At the forum, Central Current editor Chris Libonati read the correct answer as 34%. The answer was 12.2%. Central Current regrets this error.

How many properties are on the city’s rental registry?

Hogan: 18,000

Majok: 12,000

Owens: 2,500

Correct Answer: 11,550, according to the city’s open data portal

Clarification: The intent of the question was to ask how many properties are eligible for the rental registry, which the city listed as 11,550 on the day before the forum.

How much money in construction did the city permit last year?

Hogan: $250 million

Owens: Record number

Majok: $1 million

Correct Answer: $413.5 million, according to city open data

Name all four Syracuse City School District high school mascots.

Hogan: Bulldogs, Black Knights, Cougars, Falcons, and I don’t know the new school’s

Majok: Falcon, Bulldog, Black Knight, and Cougars. I can’t remember ITC’s.

Owens: Falcons, Atoms, Cougars, Black Knights, Bulldogs.

Correct Answer: Black Knights, Cougars, Falcons, Bulldogs and Atoms

Correction: There are five city school district mascots. Central Current regrets this error.

Which high school recently won the state’s mock trial competition for the first time in school history?

Majok before time expired: That’s Nottingham

Correct Answer: Nottingham High School

A Syracuse University graduate, who is now a Syracuse resident, won a Pulitzer Prize this year. Who is it?

Hogan: No answer

Majok: No answer

Owens: No answer

Correct Answer: Mosab Abu Toha

What former Syracuse resident is the oldest woman to win a Grammy?

Majok: No answer

Hogan: No answer

Owens: Libba Cotten

Correct Answer: Elizabeth ‘Libba’ Cotten

The Syracuse community has a strong literary history. Name one author who is or has been part of that community. 

Hogan: Rod Serling

Majok: Grant Reeher

Owens: Sean Kirst

Lyndon B. Johnson gave a speech of great national importance in Syracuse. What is the speech called? It was given in 1964.

Owens: No answer

Hogan: No answer

Majok: No answer

Correct Answer: The Gulf of Tonkin speech

Traditional questions

Central Current asked seven questions, some inspired by reader-submitted questions, and gave the candidates one minute to answer.

This question comes from Andrew. the Trump administration has been clear that it wants to make significant cuts to federal spending the state, and by extension, the state, the city, rely on this funding. If the state government had to reduce the funding it passes to the city, what services would you first look to cut?

Hogan: That would put a great pressure on us, incredible pressure on us. I think I’d reach out first to the County to see what they could take on to help us. 

This has happened before, but I predict it will happen again, and it’ll be severe. But that’s why I’d meet with the County Executive and see if maybe he could take the Parks Department on, depending on the severity of the cuts.

Majok: So, the base level of that answer is that you Syracuse is already in a dire position, and if we were to cut something that is state-funded, I can’t say it. I can’t say it until I know that I’m in that situation.

Owens: That’s a real possibility. We receive funding from the federal government, particularly for our infrastructure and for our public safety. So if there were cuts, I would absolutely first evaluate what other funding we’re getting. 

We do receive funding, not that is non-state aid from the state of New York. I’m thankful we live in the state of New York these days, but we cannot cut public safety. We cannot go backwards on our housing initiatives. 

And so it would be those, I’m sad to say, back-office places where we really have made some strides, but as Mayor, I would not look to cut public safety, retrench our housing and I’m sorry I can’t get calls about potholes. I just can’t. 

This question was inspired by Qiana. Historically, industrial investment in the Syracuse area has had disastrous environmental impacts. Given that Micron is coming to Central New York, how will you protect Syracuse’s resources — particularly its water — from any potential adverse environmental impacts brought by Micron?

Majok: So, when you look at our water system, you look at Onondaga Lake, for example – I learned of Onondaga lake when I was in a refugee camp, as the most polluted lake in the world when I was there. Now, when I came here, I started to learn first what happened, right? 

First, as Patrick said, industrialization, pouring sewage in there, right? The other piece is runoff, right from rainwater and getting in there. The other part is obviously climate change and heat and nitrogen and all of that stuff, right, creating its own mechanism of contaminating water. 

If I was there, the first thing I would do is to make sure that we protect our runoff, so that we don’t continue to add more. Number two, Micron is coming. Yes, it’s going to be using a lot of water. What we need to do is to be able to hold the whole Micron accountable and give us a process as to how they are going to process the water sill.

Owens: We see environmental impacts, the residual effects of them all in every single neighborhood, with these brownfield properties we have all over the neighborhoods of the city of Syracuse. 

As far as our water is concerned, the first thing that we should do is make sure that that environmental impact study is released right now so people can see it, then we will know what the impacts are proposed for our water sources. We would be better prepared to know how to address it. 

We are very proud of our green space and water spaces in Syracuse, and the pipelines leading from our water sources to the city of Syracuse. In combination with the County and our (Water and Environmental Protection) department, we must be in full cooperation with those departments.

Hogan: The Environmental Assessment for any kind of industry is pretty strict. NEPA, SEQRA, I’ve been involved in more SEQRA actions than I can name.

As far as the city proper goes, except for like JMA, I don’t think you’re going to see too much industry in the city proper, but we have to be cognizant of what’s happening outside.

The Micron, (I sit on the environmental assessment for that), the Micron study was released prematurely. Things have changed since then. I’ll wait to the final draft before I’ll make a comment on that.

This question was inspired by Ed. The Children’s Rising Center project’s pause brought internal divisions to the forefront of the East Adams Redevelopment project. Leaders from Blueprint 15, the Allyn Family Foundation, the city and the Syracuse Housing Authority have described the relationship between those organizations as dysfunctional. How would you unify the various stakeholders involved to move the redevelopment forward as planned?

Owens: So again, full disclosure, I serve as the board president of Blueprint 15. We worked very hard with the residents of that neighborhood to envision a Children Rising Center that would serve that community and other communities as well. 

This is where the mayor and I, one of the places that we differ. That described dysfunctionality, I saw two years ago. There needed to be a change in capacity of the housing authority to be able to lead a billion dollar project. 

The Children’s Rising Center, the last piece of the funding that we worked diligently to pull together was lost because of timing. I have not given up on that project. This is what I do. I do not give up on something, but I find another path to get it done. 

The city, through work with the council, will have management opportunities over where it was proposed to be. And so we will continue to move forth to get that project done, because the residents want it and they deserve it.

Hogan: This always mystified me. I mean, the mayor controls five members of the seven members on the SHA and his deputy mayor was head of Blueprint 15, and they were the two warring factions. So I know what I would, what other mayors would have done. I would have brought them all down to City Hall and got them in a room and worked it out.

But I mean, when you control both entities, I can’t see where you can’t find a common path to get this thing done. We were totally aghast at the common council when this came before us. I couldn’t believe this didn’t happen. 

And just like the deputy mayor said, we owe it to the kids in that community, and we owe it certainly to their parents. That’s the centerpiece of the East Adams project.

Majok: So I think the first thing I would do as mayor is take accountability. In this process, Deputy Mayor Owens, Ben Walsh, none of them took accountability. And everything rises and falls on a leader, and the first thing we should have done is take accountability for that failure. 

And here’s why I’m saying that. Out of seven board members, majority of those are appointed by the mayor. And if there was a failure in the housing authority, and Blueprint 15, to not advance this project, there should have been a level of accountability that should have been given to the communities, considering that that community was looking forward to that project. 

It was one of the first projects to be dedicated to that neighborhood, and as a city, we pummeled it, and we didn’t take accountability. That’s the first thing I would have done.

Central Current gave Owens 30 seconds for a rebuttal, then gave Majok 30 seconds to respond to her rebuttal.

Owens: the only person in the room with their sleeves rolled up to make that project even a reality was Sharon Owens.

Hogan: But it hasn’t happened.

Majok: I think deputy mayor, even if you started it, you didn’t finish it, you failed at it.

Owens: It’s not done.

Majok: It took the council to step up to save it.

Owens: It’s not done, you didn’t save anything.

Hogan: I won’t hold my breath.

This question was submitted by Mary. The removal of the Interstate 81 viaduct could create up to 20 acres of surplus land across the city but particularly in Syracuse’s South Side. What do you believe is the best use of this land?

Hogan: Well, the council has already acted on this. The council has already made a statement saying, we want that property turned over to the City of Syracuse. 

I mean, this has happened before. The Inner Harbor was turned over to the City of Syracuse after the state failed to be able to negotiate anybody to buy it. We ended up with it. 

We want those – It’s 14 acres, by the way. We want the chance to be able to knit together downtown and the university area, and have housing in there.

Majok: So I’ll do two things with it. The first thing is to make sure that we create more green space around downtown, where families, especially young families with children, can go and be around and have space to hang out. One. 

Number two is to make sure that Upstate and Syracuse University don’t get their hands on it whatsoever. 

Owens: As the councilor said, we absolutely should, the city should have ownership of that property so that we can determine what the future will be. 

But unlike the two gentlemen to my right, it is not for me to determine what the best use of that property is. The public process is that we zone the property and look to the people to give us input about the best use of the property.

This question was inspired by Barrie. It’s no secret the citizen review board has struggled over the last 18 months. What specific actions would you take as mayor to get the citizen review board on track to fulfilling its mission while maintaining the independence granted to the CRB in its founding legislation.

Majok: Well, the CRB is already on the track. We have hired – the board has hired – an administrator. So it’s already on the track. What I’ll do is to continue to support it. As I said, Everything rises and falls on a leader. 

As a chair of public safety. I have been blamed about CRB. I have my reason. But guess what? As a leader, I take a three. Accountability for it. That accountability is what I have initiated with the support of Councilors to make sure that we were building and we are building CRB from ground up. 

The next step is to fill the board, which we did initially, and the administrator is in the position. So I’m excited for CRB. We have great people. I think Don Johnson was down here. And we have a good group of individuals that are in the best interest of CRB at hand, and I will support that.

Owens: The CRB is a critical asset for accountability for our police department, just one source of that. I am really happy this is not a time to dispute. It needs to be sound. It needs to be available to move forward. I am pleased to hear that a director has been hired. 

We all collectively need to give the CRB the support it needs, and whatever support it felt it did not have, that caused the resignation of two of its lead board members, that cannot happen. And so it is beholden upon all of us to ensure that it is strengthened and has the capacity it needs to be all it should be.

Hogan: The CRB has been a project for years and years. I was on the council the last time the leader of the CRA director was removed.

 I commiserate with Councilor Majok, because he’s been working long and hard on this. And I support him, and the council will support him in his endeavors here to try to get back on track. 

But it needs the input of the community. It’s an educational process, and we make sure the community is behind us all the way on this.

This question was inspired by Leif. What’s one way you believe the city can generate revenue to keep pace with rising costs and get to sustainability?

Owens: One way that we will increase revenue is to, first of all, ensure that we’re not reducing our tax base. To ensure that the 48% of property owners who contribute to the tax base of the City of Syracuse, that does not go down. 

Other ways to increase revenue is to fund the departments of the City of Syracuse that can produce business in this city, that can collect fees and have additional taxpayer, tax revenue-paying businesses in this community.

Hogan: People always get this a little mixed up – It’s 48% of the total assessed value of the city that’s tax exempt, not properties. In other words, some of our most expensive property, is tax exempt, like Syracuse University, of course. You know, billion dollars worth of assessed property. 

So what we have to, we have to grow revenue. Now the council’s come up with a couple ideas. I like the vacant property fee, where we can force people to put property into productive use. As far as tax revenues go, we still have a real problem getting building permits and certificates of use and everything else, through the whole processes. 

We got new zoning that we just put in, first time since 1967 it’s helping somewhat, but the whole Codes system, as far as issuing building permits, is really difficult, difficult. So we started third-party reviewers, which is a good idea.

Majok: We cannot tax our way out of a deficit. And by saying that, it means that we got to build more housing so that there is more to our tax base. That’s one. 

The other piece to it is that we got to make sure we train our workforce so that even those houses that we build and help individuals get in, that they can maintain them and sustain them and continue to have stability in tax base. 

Third is to make sure that nonprofit organizations like Syracuse University do not continue to creep into our system and take properties off the tax roll. We gotta take care of that. We also gotta ask hospitals to see if they can also pay into public infrastructure fee, so that the city cannot bear the brunt of the infrastructure alone. So those are some of the areas I think we can generate resources to be able to at least alleviate the burden of the cost.

Democratic mayoral candidates spar over budget, housing and more at Central Current forum

What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made in your current role in public office?

Hogan: When I was first on the city council, I voted against the Land Bank. And now I’m the Chairman of the Land Bank, I’ve come to the realization. At first, I wanted to see if the city could do what the Land Bank does. 

But then I ran into this woman named Caitlin Wright, who ended up working for the City and became director of the Land Bank. And the Land Bank was seven people that work for it, employees that work for it, do a magnificent job. 

Over the last 10 years, we put 1200 properties back on the tax rolls. Rehabbed properties that people, a lot of times, couldn’t afford to buy properties, but they had to sweat equity to get those properties, and they’ve enlivened the neighborhoods and stabilized some of those neighborhoods.

Majok: Every vote that I take, I, as a man of faith, I pray over it. I think through it, and when I vote, I know I’m voting to the best of my ability. So I can’t say I’ve made a mistake so far.

Owens: The absolutely biggest mistake that I’ve made since being in my current role is that I didn’t scream louder, jump up higher, pump my fist harder, about the problems I saw with the East Adams project two years ago. And I should have screamed louder, jumped higher and pound my fist to make the changes happening now more urgent two years ago.

Lightning round

In a fast-paced Lightning Round, Central Current asked the candidates a series of mostly ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions.

Should Gov. Kathy Hochul be the Democratic nominee in the next race for governor, yes or no?

Hogan: Yes.

Majok: Absolutely.

Owens: Yes.

Should Bill Simmons be the executive director of Syracuse Housing Authority, yes or no?

Owens: No.

Majok: Yes.

Hogan: Yes.

If the Citizen Review Board recommends a police officer be fired, would you or your police chief fire that police officer, yes or no? 

Hogan: Yes.

Majok: Yes.

Owens: Yes.

If you could invest in only one neighborhood during your tenure as mayor, it would be…

Owens: You gotta be kidding me. I decline to answer!

Majok: All neighborhoods are priceless.

Hogan: Actually, I think the Near West Side. I see a lot of growth in that area.

Would you allow the Syracuse Police Department to sign an agreement with ICE to perform immigration enforcement duties with ICE oversight, yes or no?

Hogan: No.

Majok: Big no.

Owens: No.

What is Syracuse’s defining moment? 

Owens: Winning the national basketball championship.

Majok: The New American growth.

Hogan: I would say, when we came out of the machine age, the industrial era, after World War Two. And we have transformed sort of courageously into a whole new era. 

Was the aquarium the best use of Onondaga County’s money, yes or no?

Hogan: Any time Onondaga County wants to spend money in my council district, I’m in favor of it.

Majok: I don’t think so.

Owens: No, it wasn’t.

This question comes from Andy and Caleb. Will you follow through on the process to remove the Columbus statue and continue working with the group of stakeholders Mayor Walsh assembled, yes or no?

Owens: Yes.

Majok: No.

Hogan: No.

Mayor Walsh created the Surveillance Technology Working Group to review powerful technology and recommend guidelines before the city implements it. Would the group continue its work under your leadership, yes or no?

Hogan: Yes.

Majok: Yes.

Owens: Yes.

Would you approve of the use of generative AI on city websites and in city correspondence, yes or no?

Owens: No.

Majok: Yes.

Hogan: Yes.

Would you conduct a full property tax revaluation in the first two years of your term, yes or no?

Hogan: In the first two years.

Majok: No.

Owens: Yes.

If you were a councilor — which two of you are — and a vote was held today, would you vote in favor of opting into Good Cause Eviction, yes or no?

Owens: Yes.

Majok: Absolutely.

Hogan: No.

If you were the mayor, and the Common Council approved Good Cause Eviction, would you veto it, yes or no?

Hogan: I would veto it.

Majok: I will not.

Owens: I would not veto it.

The land formerly occupied by Kennedy Square apartments is currently tax-exempt. Should Upstate University Hospital and New York State sell the property so it can be put back on the tax rolls, yes or no?

Owens: Absolutely.

Majok: Absolutely.

Hogan: Thus the fee on vacant property. Thus, why we should have the fee on vacant property to force them to sell that, and also sell the Harrison House.

In past years, the Syracuse Mets have paid homage to local history by adopting various temporary team names, including the Syracuse Shot Clocks, the Syracuse Salt Potatoes, and the Syracuse Devices. If you could decide a locally-inspired team name for the Mets, what would it be?

Owens: The Syracuse Onondagas.

Majok: Syracuse Bid Welcome.

Hogan: Syracuse Nationals.

Final segment

To end the debate, Central Current gave each candidate a chance to ask their two opponents a question. After Councilor Hogan asked to answer his own question, Central Current granted the request and allowed the other candidates to answer their own questions as well.

Hogan: I guess I would ask both candidates: How do we progress away from using our fund balance? How do we go forward without using the fund balance?

Majok: Well, I think the first step is, you know, economics 101, is you don’t spend money you don’t have. And by doing that, its to make sure that, we having a shrinking tax base and not generating enough, that we draft our budget based on what we have, as opposed to being futuristic. 

So that will be the first step in moving away from using our rainy day fund, making sure that we spend what we have, and then if we have to dip in, be very, very, very slow to do it. But spend what we have first.

Owens: As mayor, I would reverse the budget process. I would take a look at what expenditures we have that we have no control over: pension fees, health care, rising costs that we just don’t have control over. Then I would look at, what are our revenue streams? Have they changed? 

Then I would be able to see what the gap is. 

Then it begins a process of looking at, are there other revenues that we can incorporate into this to reduce that? The day when we get into office, when I am mayor, that budget, we are not going to be able to draw zero from the rainy day fund. It’s not realistic, but my budget process would be different.

Hogan: I said we gotta convince the state to honor the agreement that they made under Governor Pataki, to increase the aim of aid to municipalities of 2% every single year. We wouldn’t be in this situation.

Majok: If you were in the position of being mayor, and if the Advanced IT whistleblower would have come to you, what would you have done differently?

Clarification: Majok referenced the city’s payroll modernization snafu. So far, the city has spent about $10 million on technology that has not led to fully updated payroll systems, though the city believes it could make significant progress in the next two years. You can read more about the city’s payroll modernization project and allegations against the city here and here.

Hogan: I did what I got to, and I gave it to our lawyer, the council’s lawyer, because I didn’t know what to do with it, really. And I figured a lawyer who represents the council should look at it.

Owens: I would do exactly what I did. The whistleblower came to me because obviously that individual felt they could be heard by me, and I did exactly, I would do exactly what I did. Fifteen minutes after she left my office, I went to Corporation Counsel and said, “I need you to review, this is an issue. I need you to review it.”

Majok: Well, I would have done something different, right, which is that, this idea of a whistleblower coming back was a premeditated idea already, that it’s the Advanced IT. Based on the meeting that they had, the department heads, at Strathmore. 

It was expected that they were going to be used as a pass-through. So if I was in that position, like deputy mayor was, in which I knew that what I did as a pass-through, to use a minority women business as a pass-through, I would have taken more action, publicly, quickly, than what deputy mayor, did in which she brushed it under.

Central Current offered Owens a 30-second rebuttal, and Majok a chance to respond to that rebuttal.

Owens: Absolutely, because my integrity is being called into question right now, and if there is nothing I will have at the end of this process left, it is my character and my integrity.

Majok: Well it’s doing what you’re supposed to do. 

Owens: Which was what I did.

Majok: Which was to protect the interests of the contractor. Which you didn’t. You didn’t. If you talk to Advanced IT right now, they would tell you that you failed at that. You did not do an act as a leader in that, in that manner.

Owens: We also paid a contractor that knew they didn’t do anything.

Majok: Right. And you knew that those were taxpayer dollars, and you wasted them.

Hogan: Well, no, I mean, this is a moot question, because this is under investigation by the Attorney General’s Office. Anyways.

Owens: Councilors Majok and Councilor Hogan, if you had to review a budget and you contracted with an independent contractor by waiver of competitive bid, would you make that report public before you make decisions about the cuts in the budget?

Majok: Well, until you are in the position of a councilor, you would understand that councilors make decision at 11:59 p.m. And and being able to do that, yes, the report is public, but until you sit in a position of councilors, I would have, if this had to be done over, I would do it the same way.

Hogan: I fail to see the objection of using the same accounting firm that audits our books at the end of the fiscal year, to have them look at the books before we vote on the budget. Doesn’t make any sense.

Owens: The answer to my own question is that I was just accused of not being public enough with the whistleblower. You were not public enough with a report that you used to determine the taxpayer’s budget.

Central Current offered Councilor Majok a 30-second rebuttal, and Deputy Mayor Owens a chance to respond to that rebuttal.

Majok: well, if, if the decision was $10 million, Deputy Mayor, it would have been different. 

Audience members interrupted Majok, before the Central Current moderators quieted the crowd.

Majok: So if my decision was $10 million it would have been handled differently. We are talking, it’s not the same. We are talking about $20,000 compared to $10 million. Do the math.