The incumbent in the race for Onondaga County’s 10th legislative district covering the town of Manlius faces a challenge from a political activist seeking change.
Democrat Elaine Denton said she increasingly feels the need to stand up for residents during the public comment periods at the legislature’s sessions.
“There really isn't much discussion. There isn't much outreach to the community saying, 'community, what do you think of this before we make this decision?'" Denton said. "I won't be a rubber stamp on the county legislature. "I want to look at each proposal that comes before me and evaluate that based on what's best for our community."
Denton said after serving four years on the Manlius Town Board and spending time on the campaign trail, she consistently hears concerns about one issue.
“We're hearing about the housing crisis and just the unaffordability of staying in your house right now or even trying to buy a house," she said. "I want to make sure that we are doing everything we can at the county level to address the housing crisis.”
Two-term incumbent Mark Olson agreed housing costs are a major challenge facing residents.
He said his time on the legislature and 20 years as mayor of Fayetteville give him the experience needed to best serve residents on a range of topics.
“Being able to connect the residents to the services, working with the town supervisors, working with the mayors, working with the school superintendents, what can we do to help?" he said. "I have a wider breadth of knowledge, a wider breadth of people that I have worked with over the past that have helped the Village of Fayetteville, but also helped the county and helped the 10th district.”
For example, Olson wants to use his more than four decades as a volunteer firefighter to advocate for funding a fire protection study. It wasn't funded by the county executive in the recently passed budget.
“But there's an avenue we're going to work through the legislative branch with the leadership and maybe using fund balance," Olson said. "The same with Main Street [grants], same with veterans, same with all these other initiatives. So it's working through the process. You can't get everything you want, but you need to continue to communicate.”
Olson considers himself an independent voter on the legislature, and doesn’t hesitate to disagree with his Republican caucus or the GOP county executive.
