Mayor Ben Walsh announced a new detailed campaign platform at a press conference in front of Westcott Theater on Friday.

The “Plan to Keep Rising” provides details on policy proposals he has mentioned throughout his campaign and makes more specific promises on what a second term would look like if he is re-elected as mayor.

“Make no mistake, this plan does not represent what we’re going to do for the next four years. We are just getting started,” Walsh said. “This provides an opportunity to get a glimpse of the work that we’re going to do if I’m lucky enough to have another four years in office.”

Walsh was joined at Westcott Theater by a number of his supporters including Syracuse Common Council President Helen Hudson, Councilor Rita Paniagua, Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens and representatives from some of the unions that have endorsed him.

Beyond expanding previous policy proposals like municipal broadband and expanded city trash services, which Walsh announced at a sustainability forum last week, the plan reiterates Walsh’s commitment to infrastructure investments in the city. The plan commits to the community grid replacement plan for the Interstate 81 viaduct and pledges additional investment into the city’s municipal sidewalk program, which was approved in June.

During the press conference, Walsh emphasized housing and lead remediation policy, as well as police reform, as priorities of a potential second term in office.

“I know how much of a challenge we have with violence in the city,” he said. “I spend far too much time out in the streets in the middle of the night in crime scenes, in the emergency room and in people’s living rooms grieving the loss of their loved ones. And I know so many of us here as well. We’re sick of it. We’re tired of it. We are not going to stop until our city is safer for everyone.”

The “Public Safety” section of the plan outlines Walsh’s commitment to the Syracuse Police Reform and Reinvention Plan, which the Common Council passed in March, and pledges to commit federal relief funds to investigate “alternative policing strategies” for the city.

The plan also outlines a rapid transit bus public transportation system and the expansion of Syracuse Surge, the mayor’s economic development policy.

“We are not satisfied with where we are. We are making progress. It’s undeniable, but we have so much more to do,” Walsh said. “With the coalition that we have behind us and with us, I have no doubt that we’re going to accomplish it. … If we continue to work together and continue to rise above, I promise you, Syracuse will keep rising.”

Published on October 15, 2021 at 5:54 pm

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