After 18 years, Onondaga County Legislator Kathleen Rapp is stepping down. Rapp reflected on her time in the Legislature and the many accomplishments she has seen and also what she believes can be improved.
Rapp said the county's economic and job development over the years including Hancock Field and the Tech Garden, is unprecedented.
She said she feels great about the transformation that has taken place at Onondaga Community College and Onondaga Lake.
“Sometimes it feels like nothing gets done and then you look around at the community and you see how much we really have gotten done," Rapp said. "Nobody thought that lake would ever get cleaned up and here we are jumping in it. There was this dream about circling it with a bike path. I’m on that bike path three days a week with thousands of other people.”
But she said the biggest achievement might be the expansion of Destiny USA. She remembered fighting to convince the legislature that the expansion was something the community wanted and she said Destiny developer Bob Congel took notice.
"Bob Congel never forgot that," Rapp said. "Every time he would see me he would say it's because of you that this happened. And now there’s 5,000 people working. There's $60 million in fees that have come to the community. There is at least $12 million that we wouldn't have had in sales tax coming in year after year. And we've become a tourist destination. I feel pretty darn good about that."
But Rapp said what the Legislature still needs to do is reestablish itself more firmly as a check and balance to the county executive. At the Legislature's last session of the year, Rapp was one of a few councilors that criticized their rubber stamping of appointments made by the county executive.
"Not only is a disservice to the community, it's a disservice to the person who gets that appointment because a lot of the time they're cutting in line in front of long time employees and it is far more difficult to manage when those employees know that you haven't really competed for that job, that you are the very best person there," Rapp said. "I think that in these cases they would have competed very well. But who knows."
Rapp said she would also like to see more women on the legislature.
“I think that we provide a unique voice, we look at things differently,” Rapp said.
Rapp did make some waves in the community on her way out after deciding to take a $10,000 buyout for Onondaga County employees, leaving with one year left of her term. Her replacement will be appointed at the beginning of the new year.
