Four Democrats are now voters’ choices for two at-large common councilors’ seats in the November 2011 elections.
They are the incumbent Kathleen Joy, D-Eastwood; Pamela Hunter, who was recently appointed to the council; Helen Hudson, a long-time anti-gun advocate; and Julius Edwards, the former director of the county’s human rights commission.
As of March 26, no Republicans had publicly announced plans to run for the two Syracuse councilor-at-large positions. The Democratic Party names its candidates on May 15. The GOP designates its official candidates in May as well. If all four Democrats stay in the race, they will also face each other in a primary to choose the two representing the party. The general election is Nov. 8.
The council is composed of four councilors-at-large, five district councilors and a president. The councilors-at-large are elected by voters citywide and serve four-year terms. Councilors-at-large represent the entire city of Syracuse, instead of individual districts. Council members can serve only eight years in the same seat.
The council includes seven Democrats and two Republicans. Van Robinson, the council’s president, is also a Democrat. Five Democrats or their seats are up for re-election. They are Joy; Hunter; Patrick Hogan of the Far Westside; Thomas Seals of Brighton, who can’t seek re-election because of term limits, and Nader Maroun of Meadowbrook. Both of the Republicans are also up for re-election. They are Matthew Rayo of Sedgwick and Ryan McMahon of Strathmore.
For the two at-large seats, here are sketches of the potential candidates:
Kathleen Joy (Democrat, incumbent)
Joy was appointed to the council in May 2005 to fill a vacancy. She is the chair of the committee on economic development, downtown and metropolitan planning. She is also the majority leader of the council.
In 2010, Joy ran against state Sen. John DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse, for the 50th state Senate District. She lost, getting only 35 percent of the vote.
Joy, 49, is a real estate attorney. She has the most political experience of the three candidates and cites this as one of her strengths. “I’ve worked in City Hall in the law department back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and ironically, some of the same issues that we faced back then, we’re facing today. I have a historic knowledge of what has gone on,” she said.
Parking and rental housing around Syracuse University and the expansion at the Carousel Center are examples of issues that she’s dealt with in the past, she said.
Among the city’s top issues, she said, are creating jobs and committing resources to schools and teachers. If reelected, she said, she also wants to strengthen a neighborhood development project to get rid of vacant lots and renovate abandoned houses in Syracuse.
Pamela Hunter (Democrat, incumbent)
Pamela Hunter could not be reached for an interview for this article.
Hunter, 41, works at the Epilepsy Foundation of Rochester-Syracuse-Binghamton.
Hunter was recently sworn in to the council to fill the seat vacated by former at-large Councilman Bill Ryan, D-Syracuse. Ryan resigned in December 2010 to take a job as director of administration under Mayor Stephanie Miner. Hunter was selected by the council from among 60 other applicants. She serves on the public safety committee.
To continue on the council, she must be elected in her own right in the November election.
Hunter has never held elective office. But she has served as secretary of the county Democratic Party.
Helen Hudson (Democrat)
Helen Hudson could not be reached for an interview for this article.
Hudson, 51, works with United Way as a community services liaison.
Hudson also applied for the seat vacated by Ryan. She is a lifelong resident of Syracuse and leader of the community group Mothers Against Gun Violence. She has pledged to make reducing violence a priority if she’s elected.
Hudson started Mothers Against Gun Violence after her own son survived a stabbing. She felt compelled to help prevent similar violent incidents, she has said.
“From gun violence to the financial crisis threatening to eliminate hundreds of teaching jobs in our community schools, the Common Council has an obligation to act swiftly to find solutions to these problems and I am the best candidate to lead that effort,” she said in a news release announcing her campaign.
Julius D. Edwards (Democrat)
Edwards, 43, announced on March 30 that he’s running for one of the at-large Common Council seats. He is the former executive director of the Onondaga County Human Rights Commission. In late 2009, the position was eliminated in a budget-cutting effort.
Edwards has spent the last year working as a free-lance consultant under the business name Strategic Development International. He consults on diversity and human and social development.
This will be his first run for elective office.
From 2003 to 2008, Edwards was the assistant director at the Hillbrook Juvenile Detention Center. Before that, he was the director of the Syracuse Partnership to Reduce Juvenile Gun Violence.
Edwards, who lives on West Ostrander Avenue, grew up and attended schools in the city of Syracuse. He received his bachelor’s from Le Moyne College in 1991 and expects to receive his master’s from Syracuse University in May 2011.
This story was updated on April 3 to include Edwards after he announced his candidacy.
(Shawn Arrajj is a graduate student in magazine, newspaper and online journalism.)
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