When he was just 23 years old, Ryan McMahon ran to represent the southwest side of Syracuse on the city council. He lost. He was devastated, he said.

Now, 15 years later, he’s about to oversee a $1.3 billion budget and more than 3,000 government employees as the Onondaga County executive.

McMahon said he believes his age — he’s 38 — and the community ties he’s built will play to his advantage as county executive. With his ability to build relationships, McMahon plans to seek out partnerships across the city, including some at Syracuse University, in his efforts to tackle area poverty and infrastructure issues.

Joanie Mahoney, the outgoing county executive, announced in late September she would be leaving the position to join SUNY-ESF as its chief operating officer. The last time Mahoney ran for county executive, she spoke with McMahon, but he said he wasn’t ready to run at the time.

“I believe a lot about timing in politics. It was different this time,” he added.

When the opportunity arose in 2003 for McMahon to run for city council, the Republican launched his campaign and began to attend neighborhood meetings and public events. After losing to Democrat Pat Waelder in a close race, he had a choice to make, he said: either quit now, or keep going to the neighborhood meetings he attended during his campaign.

McMahon chose the latter. Meeting attendees were happy to see him return, he said. He never stopped going to those meetings, and residents eventually began to go to him for help.

“It got to the point where people would call me with issues and I’d call department heads to help. I was almost doing the (city council) job a little bit,” he said.

In 2005, he ran for and won the same seat he’d lost two years earlier, beginning his career in politics. McMahon moved to the Onondaga County Legislature in 2012 and spent time serving as chairman — a position that several previous county executives have held.

Laura Angle | Digital Design Editor

As county executive, two of the biggest problems McMahon plans to address are poverty and decaying infrastructure. Much of the poverty in Syracuse is generational, meaning a family has been impoverished for at least two generations, McMahon said. The number one way to stop this type of poverty is education, he said.

McMahon also said another potential way to tackle issues surrounding poverty could involve a partnership with SU to create workforce development programs. One initiative that’s under consideration is a countywide high school that focuses on technology, which could also present an opportunity to partner with SU, he said.

The city of Syracuse is also struggling to grow its economy and population, and McMahon said he would like to find ways to attract more people here to raise families — he’s especially looking to attract military veterans.

“I can’t think of better residents to bring into the community than our veterans,” he said.

McMahon wants to address the sewage system too, he said. He’ll first look at shared service and consolidation opportunities. The county owns the waste water plants and permits, but not a lot of the infrastructure that brings in the water, which is where the problem is, he said.

He also plans to negotiate to extend Onondaga County’s sales tax sharing agreement with the city of Syracuse.

Part of McMahon’s style is working closely with people in the community. He said he tries to take around half of his meetings out in the public.

“We’re in the people business in county government. We need to take a lead role in that and be accountable for that,” he added.

Laura Angle | Digital Design Editor

Thomas Buckel, a Democratic representative from the county’s 7th district, said he would like to see McMahon reevaluate the county’s economic development program. He also said if the city can find an effective way to alleviate poverty in Onondaga County, the program could be used as a model to help other struggling regions.

David Knapp, a Republican legislator representing the 12th district, joined the legislature at the same time as McMahon and became the chair of the Ways and Means Committee. Knapp will serve as the new chairman after McMahon’s departure.

Knapp said he worked closely with McMahon and felt he’s collaborative with his Democratic counterparts.

McMahon said he learned early in his career that the key to getting things done was to work across the aisle. Buckel said McMahon only recently began to work with the Democrats because he started to encounter resistance within his own party.

“I am sure Ryan thinks he was working across the aisle,” said Peggy Chase, a Democratic county legislator, in an email. “However, he really didn’t need to do that.”

Chase referenced the Republicans having a supermajority in county legislature. Currently, there are 12 Republican legislators to five Democratic legislators.

After speaking with McMahon, Chase said she feels confident about his focus on poverty and thinks he has enough legislative experience to understand how governmental processes work.

McMahon will be up for re-election November 2019, and he said he already plans on running again.

“The best way for to win this campaign is to do a good job,” he said. “If I do a good job, I’ll get a four-year term. If I don’t do a good job, I won’t.”

Published on October 23, 2018 at 10:00 pm