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Mayor Ben Walsh takes office on friendly terms with governor and county executive

Wasim Ahmad | Staff Photographer

Mayor Ben Walsh said he hopes the "community grid" option will replace Interstate 81 in 2019.

By Jordan MullerSenior Staff Writer

UPDATED: Jan. 22, 2018, at 8:16 p.m.

The public feuding between the Syracuse mayor and other local and state officials seems to have come to an end in recent weeks with Mayor Ben Walsh’s election.

Since November, Walsh has enjoyed a cordial relationship with Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney and New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a stark contrast to the years of fighting between the latter officials and former Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner.

While the former mayor was in office, Miner and Mahoney publicly exchanged blows over economic development initiatives, sanctuary cities and the Consensus commission’s city-county merger proposal. Miner also feuded with Cuomo on his plans to aid struggling municipalities and has considered challenging him in a 2018 bid for governor.  

Mahoney did not endorse a candidate in the 2017 mayoral race. But the county executive vowed to begin her relationship with the new Syracuse mayor on a “clean slate” and has so far followed through on her promise.



Two days after Walsh’s election, Mahoney told Syracuse.com she was “re-energized” by the prospect of collaboration with the new mayor.  

“I’ve already got a file on my desk that has his name on it,” Mahoney said. “I’m getting my agenda ready.”

Walsh and Mahoney spent time together earlier this month while attending Cuomo’s State of the State address. Syracuse.com reported that Walsh spent about 20 minutes speaking one-on-one with Mahoney, who he referred to as an “old friend.” Mahoney reportedly used to babysit Walsh when he was a child.

Mahoney, a Republican, said Walsh’s politically unaffiliated position was similar to hers. Walsh is Syracuse’s first independent mayor, and Mahoney has not been afraid to clash with her own party. She’s an ally of Cuomo and has fought with the GOP in the past.

Whether or not Mahoney and Walsh can bridge their disagreement over the contentious Consensus proposal to merge the Syracuse city and Onondaga County legislatures remains to be seen. Walsh denounced the legislative merger on the campaign trail, though he has said he supports most of the Consensus report’s recommendations. Mahoney supports the plan to merge the legislatures.

The county executive told Syracuse.com she respects Walsh’s position on the issue and will not push him on it anytime soon.

Though Walsh has always been a registered independent, his family has deep political roots aligned with Mahoney’s party affiliation. His father is a former GOP congressman and his grandfather was a Republican mayor of Syracuse.

Walsh’s father, James, is also a co-chair on the Consensus commission.

During the trip to Albany with Mahoney, Walsh also met briefly with Cuomo for the first time since taking the oath of office.

“(Cuomo) said he’d like to accelerate our progress in Syracuse, and I certainly would welcome it,” Walsh told Syracuse.com.

Walsh also spoke on the phone with Cuomo shortly after the November election, Cuomo said. The governor told reporters in November he believed Syracuse residents elected Walsh based on his qualifications rather than his party label, and he wanted to work with the mayor to make improvements in the city.

With the replacement of the aging Interstate 81 viaduct in Syracuse, Walsh has said he hopes a multibillion-dollar “community grid” option is selected by the state. The community grid option, under consideration by the New York State Department of Transportation, would replace a stretch of the overpass near downtown with surface streets.

Other replacement options include plans to reconstruct and widen the viaduct or build it underground.

The new mayor has said the community grid is the “only option” to replace the highway, despite a call from Cuomo to consider the more expensive tunnel plan, which was originally shelved a few years ago.

The decision to replace the highway won’t be made until 2019. But despite a two-year delay on a draft environmental impact statement detailing the I-81 replacement options, Syracuse.com reported that Walsh said Cuomo was “moving the process forward” when the governor announced reconsideration of the tunnel option.  





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