A week before hoping to win re-election, Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner hosted her first Twitter town hall, one of her few large public engagement efforts this campaign season.
Miner spent just under an hour Tuesday fielding questions on the social media site via the hashtag #AskMayorMiner and responded through the city's official account.
With no Republican candidate on the ballot, Miner, a Democrat, has had to do little campaigning to keep her office. She's skipped a debate with the Green Party's Kevin Bott and Conservative Party's Ian Hunter. She also turned down the invitation to hold a live chat with Syracuse.com readers. She told the site she's busy governing.
There were several questions on Twitter about her decision to skip debates with her opponents, like those from a persistent @msimonovich:
@Syracuse1848 why are you ducking the #debate question? #AskMayorMiner
— Mike Revenant Spookyvich [he/him] (@msimonovich) October 29, 2013
His tweets all went unanswered, but she did respond to one from CNY Central anchor Michael Benny.
@MichaelBenny I have debated and will debate. I talk to people everyday about my vision for the City - Mayor M #governing
— syracuse1848 (@Syracuse1848) October 29, 2013
Miner did answer questions about neighborhood improvements, both downtown and on University Hill.
In response to a question about reducing violent crime, she said the city is working to install more security cameras, staying in touch with neighbors and "being vigilant every day."
The mayor also addressed reducing the city's high child poverty rate and low high school graduation rate.
@reinapraez @SayYesSyracuse good housing and people working directly with families to overcome challenges - Hard Work every day
— syracuse1848 (@Syracuse1848) October 29, 2013
Miner ended the town hall by tweeting, "We will do this again soon. It's been fun."