As Deputy Mayor, each day I'm committed to giving power to perspectives that have historically been overlooked. Each day my time in City Hall is filled with conversations and actions that require bringing multiple stakeholders together to establish a common vision and path to achieve effective services for the people of Syracuse. It is the recipe for success I helped to build in the Walsh administration.

In various settings, I ask:

Why are we doing this?

How will it impact the lives of all people of Syracuse?

What should be addressed to ensure diversity, equity and inclusion?

Serving in the capacity of the Chief of Staff, I have oversight of departments providing direct constituent services (public safety, housing, business and neighborhood development) and various initiatives that include: 

• Addressing housing affordability, blight and lead poisoning 

• Led creation of High Occupancy Monitoring and Enforcement (HOME) unit, resulting in the identification of health and safety violations of the city’s largest residential dwellings.

• Working with agencies and intergovernmental teams to initiate integrated services for an increasing homeless population. This initiative has aided in assisting homeless, mental and substance use afflicted persons in our community to move from the uncertainty of the street to care services.

• During the COVID 19 pandemic, through intergovernmental relationships, coordinated efforts for food distribution, well checks, vaccination information sharing to disprove misinformation, and shared vaccination site and virus testing locations. Specifically worked to ensure outreach was conducted in low-income neighborhoods and high-risk communities.

• Led city’s effort to coordinate its Police Reform and Revitalization efforts as required by NYS Executive Order 203.

• Worked to establish Syracuse Build and Pathways to Apprenticeship initiative, created to ensure construction training for Syracuse residents, particularly low-income and persons of color. This nationally recognized program established a training collaboration with the Central-Northern New York Building & Construction Trades Council to facilitate training and pre-apprenticeship opportunities in the construction unions. Pathways has completed 6 cohorts of trainees, graduating over 100 individuals.

• Engaged in the development of the One Network for Regional Advanced Manufacturing Partnerships (ON-RAMP). This New York State initiative will establish three workforce development centers in NYS, with a fourth to be built in Syracuse as the flagship New York State facility. The initiative’s vision matches my own: to create equitable opportunities for every citizen to enable their individual growth and capacity to financially support their family.

• Oversight of city Department of Neighborhood and Business Development, responsible for development and implementation of City of Syracuse Housing Strategy, a comprehensive approach to address the findings of the Housing Study which identified two specific challenges: The affordability gap: the difference between what it costs to build or maintain housing and what households are able to pay and the market gap: the difference between the cost to build or repair housing and what the households are willing to pay. The Syracuse Housing Strategy has laid out a plan to address these challenges. You can learn more at: https://www.syracusehousingstudy.com/home

• Established Mayor’s Office to Reduce Gun Violence to coordinate community violence initiative (CVI) services in response to reduce gun violence incidents. The initiative facilitate the provision of service to individuals identified as high-risk of gun violence engagement. They include: mediation, intervention, case management and referral services to ensure their success.

• Established the City of Syracuse Police Athletic and Activities League (PAL) in 2020 to create opportunities for community and police engagement.

• Serve on NYS-Micron Community Engagement Committee. To date, facilitated community engagement focus groups and aided in development of CEC priority document which will determine NYS and Micron funding priorities.

• City representative in East Adams Neighborhood Transformation Plan, a generational redevelopment strategy of Syracuse Housing Authority residential units and neighborhood infrastructure. In this role, secured with SHA, a $50 million award from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and $30 million from the US Department of Transportation in collaboration with NYSDOT.

• Prioritizing and implementing contracting opportunities for MWBE, DBE and SDVOB firms 

• Services and support to the Syracuse business community

• New methods for the building permit process

• City coordination of the Summer Youth Employment program

• Ensured the inclusion of local labor hiring requirements on the I-81 project in collaboration with the Urban Jobs Taskforce and NYSDOT

  My candidacy presents the best option for the continuity of care of the Syracuse community. While there is much work still to be done, I have been an integral part of the decisions and services that have moved Syracuse into a position for growth.