Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon has been on the job for just over a month now. He’s in the midst of a series of town hall meetings meant to introduce himself, and his governing style, to the community.
McMahon was appointed to the job earlier this fall when longtime County Executive Joanie Mahoney left to take a job with SUNY ESF in Syracuse. Since then, he’s been a familiar sight at events across the county, something indicative of what he calls his aggressive style.
"One of the things I feed off of is interaction with people," McMahon said. "It’s a daily reminder of what we’re trying to accomplish. And the best way to pass that energy and enthusiasm on to our community is for me to be out of this building, and in the communities I represent.”
McMahon has stopped in at small gatherings, like neighborhood watch meetings, to official events like the swearing in of Syracuse’s new police chief.
His town hall schedule so far has included Onondaga Community College and the city of Syracuse and is spreading across the rest of the county. So far, he said residents have been receptive to the agenda he’s laying out for the next 13 months.
"Our message of modernizing our infrastructure, of looking at new ways of doing economic development and not being scared to tackle the poverty issue, is resonating.”
There are still four town halls left on his schedule. Thursday, Dec. 6 at 6:30 p.m. in Skaneateles, Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 6:30 p.m. in the town of Clay, Thursday Dec. 13 at 6:30 p.m. in the town of Cicero and Monday Dec. 17 at 6:30 p.m. in the town of Salina.
