A majority of Syracuse Common Councilors are standing behind fellow councilor Khalid Bey in the race for mayor. Five of the nine lawmakers on the council endorsed the Democrat at a news conference Thursday, Bey’s first big public campaign event following his bout with COVID-19.
Bey was sidelined for more than two weeks after coming down with COVID in early August, and admits being out of the loop that long, isn’t the best thing when you are running for mayor.
“Our schedule was very aggressive and it stalled for two weeks,” Bey said.
Bey wasn’t able to take part in the campaign while he was sick, and ultimately it changed his perspective about things. He said it was his children that occupied his mind while he was sick, not becoming mayor.
"During COVID I had 7 different things going on at once, 7 different things ailing you, with no understanding when it will stop,” he said.
Even after his symptoms subsided, he couldn’t get back on the campaign trail immediately, because he was still weak. He took to taking long walks at Onondaga Lake Park to build his muscle endurance. And after losing 30 pounds, he needed to dig in the closet to find clothes that would fit. A major fundraiser was canceled, and the news conference announcing the common councilors’ endorsement was delayed several days.
"I didn’t want to scare any of you,” he said. “I don’t want to meet with anybody when I was coughing every two words."
Bey says he’s now back to normal. His taste is back and he has more endurance. One of the ironies of Bey’s case is that his doctors had advised him against the COVID-19 vaccine because of some underlying health conditions. They finally told him he should get the vaccine just four days before he tested positive.
Bey and his 13-year-old son have since had their first Pfizer shots, and he’ll be fully vaccinated by mid-October just before early voting in the mayor’s race begins. That also leads him to what could be the silver lining of it all: he’s become an ambassador for getting the COVID vaccine.
“Just from me getting the vaccination in itself, my mother went and got it. I talked to a host of other people who were skeptical who said they’re going to get it. Their direct statement to me was, ‘if you got it, then I’ll get it, because I trust your decision.’"
Bey is running for mayor against independent incumbent Ben Walsh, and Republican Janet Burman.
