Michael Heagerty has always enjoyed building and fixing things. His sister Eileen says even as a young man friends and family could count on Heagerty for mechanical help.
“If someone was in need or needed something repaired he’s always at the ready with a tool-bag and the know-how to go get something done.” [Eileen Heagerty]
Now Heagerty is setting his sights on city government. He is running as the Democratic candidate for Common Council from the First District. His opponents are Republican Albert Julian and Conservative candidate Kurt Schmeling. The seat is currently held by Republican Jeff DeFrancisco, who is stepping down.
Heagerty grew up in Manlius and attended Fayetteville-Manlius High School. His father, Patrick, was an American history teacher and his mother, Alfreda, a teacher and stay-at-home mom. Heagerty has owned and operated several successful businesses in Syracuse since 1979. He was a pioneer developer of Armory Square and he now owns The Palace Theatre in Eastwood. Heagerty says he and his wife, Dawn, have filed for divorce. They have two sons, Caleb, 5, and Finnbarr, 3.
As Heagerty and others tell it, he and his family have been leaving their mark on the city for more than 80 years. His grandfather, Alfred DiBella, emigrated from Italy in the early nineteen-hundreds and settled in what would become the Eastwood section of the city. A carpenter by trade, DiBella built several neighborhood landmarks, such as The Palace Theatre and the Grace Apartments. DiBella operated the Palace Theater and passed control over to Heagerty’s aunt, Frances, when he died. Heagerty credits his aunt with much of his later business success.
“She was a pretty amazing business woman in her own right. And she’s the one that I grew up with and learned most of my business skills from.” [Michael Heagerty]
Along with his sister, his late-brother Patrick, and sister-in-law Karyn, Michael opened the restaurant Pastabilities in Armory Square in 1982. It was one of the first businesses to establish itself in the former warehouse district. The family also opened a night club there, which was later sold. Heagerty took over The Palace Theatre when Frances DiBella passed away in 2004. He immediately began a more than half-million dollar restoration project, adding a café and making the theater a vibrant community center. Heagerty’s long-time friend Michael DeSalvo sees a lot of political promise in Heagerty’s business experience.
“Living his life here, creating those businesses and working with the city and trying to create things he knows the ins and outs. He knows how to push forward through a lot of that.” [Michael DeSalvo]
Heagerty says his top priorities in office would be quality-of-life issues such as crime and housing. The common theme in his plans to improve in these areas is accountability.
“We can start by simply holding property owners, landlords, and tenants responsible for the quality of where they’re living.” [Michael Heagerty]
Heagerty says the city can make neighborhoods safer by cracking down on absentee landlords. He says he supports Mayor Matt Driscoll’s landlord registration program, which seeks to identify slumlords that hide behind limited liability corporations. To provide more housing in the city Heagerty says development projects should include housing as a major component. He says the inclusion of housing was one reason the downtown transformation was so successful.
Heagerty also has some political experience to add to his private-sector work. With an appointment from Mayor Driscoll, he has served five years on the Syracuse Planning Commission. Heagerty says his time on the Planning Commission has taught him to take a big-picture view of city development. Companies that move or go out of business leave the city with their empty buildings, so Heagerty says responsible development is the key.
“We want to hold them accountable to the buildings that they’re going to build. We want them to build quality stuff.” [Michael Heagerty]
Heagerty also served as a Seventeenth Ward Democratic Committee Member, collecting petitions to get Democratic candidates on the ballot.
Beyond accountability, Heagerty says his experiences have taught him about possibility. He says he wants to create neighborhoods and a city where people want to live and work. His sister Eileen says he is committed because his experience in Armory Square and other places shows him great change is possible.
“Being participants in a radical development of an area of the city, we saw the possibility of change and what could happen when people collectively put their minds together.” [Eileen Heagerty]
The election will be November sixth. For Democracywise, I’m Jordan Meddy.
(Jordan Meddy is a graduate student in broadcast journalism.)
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