The Onondaga County Legislature’s newly redrawn 7th District includes part of the city of Syracuse, including Eastwood and Sedgwick, and parts of DeWitt and East Syracuse. Those areas were previously represented by Democrats Mary Kuhn and Peggy Chase, but both legislators are not running again.
Candidate Daniel Romeo hopes he can be the next Democrat in that seat. Romeo said he has heard concerns from constituents about everything from the future of Shoppingtown Mall to the need for more mental health services. And he said fighting lead poisoning is one of his top priorities.
"I think that we need more funding in it,” he said. “I think that we need better policies associated with it. There's a lot of barriers to getting that funding out there."
Romeo is finishing up his 8th year as a commissioner on the Syracuse school board, a seat he took over at age 25.
"Taking on that size of a budget, you know, the $500 million or so that the school district's budget is, helps prepare me for what I'm going to be taking on at the county level,” he said.
He said, although he’s a Democrat, if he’s elected, he hopes to work with everyone to get things done.
"We see how polarized everything is in politics, but when you talk to people, we're all just kind of looking for people to do the right thing and to do something, so I think that there's a middle ground there,” Romeo said.
Romeo’s opponent is also hoping to find middle ground in the legislature.
Josh Davis is running as an Independent, and he said he wants to stop divisiveness.
"My views, if you take a clock, 12 being in the center, I'm like 2 p.m. to the right and 10 a.m. to the left,” he said.
Davis said on the campaign trail, constituents’ top concerns include taxes and crime.
"You have to give support to the police. You have to generate money to be able to hire more police officers,” Davis said.
Davis said another one of his top priorities would be preparing for the arrival of Micron. As a union employee with Verizon, he said he provides a strong perspective.
"I can see the excitement that's happening, so I want to be part of that. And, I think with my background with small businesses and owning houses that I would be perfect to be able to negotiate all that,” he said.
Farther east, in District 10, which sits in the town of Manlius, Republican incumbent Mark Olson is being challenged by Democrat Carrie Ingersoll-Wood.
Olson, who also serves as the mayor of Fayetteville, hopes his experience will set him apart.
"Some of the things we vote on, I just look at and go, 'Oh my God, I dealt with that,' whether it's stormwater management, whether it's the wastewater management, whether it's CHIPS," Olson said.
Olson chairs the legislature’s public safety committee and said as a volunteer firefighter for more than 40 years, helping fire and EMS services is a top priority for him.
"As more and more of these department and volunteers don't volunteer anymore, I bring a perspective to the legislature that frankly is not there right now,” he said.
Olson also said many seniors and veterans in his district are worried about taxes and if they’ll be able to stay in their homes. He said that’s something else he’d like to focus on if he wins another term.
"I really, truly enjoy helping people,” he said. “My biggest motivation is to connect county resources to the people in my district."
His opponent, Carrie Ingersoll-Wood, is running for office for the first time, but she hopes voters will consider her experience in the field of education. Wood has taught in schools and currently serves as the director of the Disability Cultural Center at Syracuse University.
"You are working with the children of parents who are working to put their children out into the future, and so, I had a very up-close view to the social issues that impact our communities," she said.
Wood said she’d like to examine the county’s surplus to see if it can be better used to help constituents.
"I would like to propose legislation to require a percentage of that annual surplus to be required to be invested inside of Lead Safe New York,” Wood said.
She said the chief complaints she has heard on the campaign trail are about the aquarium, and she doesn’t feel moving forward with the project will reflect the will of the district.
"It would be very important to me, and for us as a community in District 10 to hold town halls and listening sessions, and I have promised people that I will do that."
There are three more contested races for the Onondaga County Legislature. Democrat Mo Brown is going against Independent Mo Moodie for an open seat in District 15. That seat is now held by Democrat Bill Kinne, who is running for Onondaga County Executive.
In District 6, Republican incumbent Julie Abbott is being challenged by Democrat Blake Carter. And Democrat Sunny Aslam is challenging Republican incumbent Dave Knapp in District 12.
