Groups that might not normally line up behind a Republican candidate endorsed Joanie Mahoney Wednesday for her re-election as Onondaga County executive. The Alliance Network and other community leaders announced their backing at the Dunbar Community Center on Syracuse’s South Side. Alliance Founder Walt Dixie has some specific accomplishments for which he credits Mahoney and her leadership, starting with the Jail Oversight Committee.
“We all have friends that have been in the jail. We all have went to the jail and felt that we were the criminal when we just wanted to see loved ones. People are inmates that don’t get due council with assigned council until the day comes when they say ‘cut a deal.’ Her leadership, not reactive to Ferguson (Missouri); this is being done prior to all that. You look at Jail Oversight Committee, that’s going to be very significant.”
Dixie adds new kiosks at Social Services eliminate sometimes five hours of waiting and don’t make people getting benefits feel humiliated. Mahoney acknowledges the support is unusual.
“This is a group that traditionally supports the other party and I think it’s even more meaningful that they would see the job that I have done and say, ‘We’re with Joanie and we would like her to continue in this role.’”
She’d rather run on record, not , she says, on a specific party platform.
“We have a smaller, less expensive government than when I got here. Property tax levy’s down 25 %; the number of people employed by Onondaga County is down by 25 %. We are collaborating with other municipalities. Our county purchasing office is doing purchasing for 47 different municipalities, including the City of Syracuse.”
She ticks off Van Duyn, Save the Rain and Social Services streamlining as other accomplishments. Mahoney might well be facing Toby Shelley in the election. A former Sheriffs' deputy and candidate for Sheriff, Shelley won the Conservative Party endorsement for a county executive bid…and plans to seek Democratic backing. The election is in November.
