For watching the city’s finances, voters so far have only one choice for city auditor in the November election.
As of late March, the only candidate expressing interest in the office was County Legislator Marty Masterpole, D-Syracuse. He represents the county legislature’s District 17, located in the west side of Syracuse. Neither the Democratic nor the Republican parties have announced their designated candidates. The parties choose them in late spring.
“I know the city issues and enjoy the city politics,” Masterpole said in an interview. “I want to work with the mayor to get the financial constraints under control.”
The election is Nov. 8. The winner will succeed Democrat Philip J. LaTessa, who is completing his second term and cannot run again for auditor.
The auditor is responsible for analyzing the city’s accounting records and preparing reports regarding the city’s financial status. LaTessa earned $53,101 annually in 2009 and 2010 as Syracuse city auditor.
For his part, Masterpole, 37, cites his experience in the insurance business and in local politics as among his qualifications for the city auditor’s post. He owns the Masterpole-Murphy insurance agency with brothers Nick and Carl.
In the insurance business, he said, he is used to working with numbers. “It’s a bottom-line business,” he says.
In politics, Masterpole is finishing his second term as the District 17 county legislator. He grew up in a political household on the west side of Syracuse. His parents never held any political positions, Masterpole recalled, but they often engaged in political discussions and watched the returns on TV. There was plenty of debate to go around, he said, because his father was a Republican and his mother was a Democrat.
His experience growing up helped shape his political opinions, he said.“I’ve never voted a straight party,” Masterpole said “I vote for whoever’s capable of getting the job done.”
In 2002, Masterpole began his own political career as a member of the Syracuse Common Council. He served on the Common Council until 2005. In 2007, he was elected to the Onondaga County Legislature. As a Democrat, he said, working in the legislature was challenging as a member of the minority party. Republicans hold 12 seats and Democrats have seven seats.
“It was tough,” Masterpole said. “We had to take whatever small victories we could get.”
Masterpole still lives on the west side of Syracuse. His wife, Heather, teaches at Corcoran High School. They have two children: Mike, 5, and Molly, 18 months.
He enjoys living in the city, he said, doing such things as golfing during the summer and attending different cultural events. He wants to make sure the residents to continue to enjoy Syracuse, he said.
“People just want a better Syracuse,” Masterpole said. “Often times, it doesn’t matter what I think, it’s what they think.”
(Thad Green is a graduate student in magazine, newspaper and online journalism.)
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