Onondaga County legislators gathered for their usual monthly session Thursday knowing that four of them won’t be back in January. Republican Chairman Tim Burtis gaveled in the meeting like he has for the past two years.
“The meeting is now called to order. Will the clerk please call the roll,” he said.
That changes in January when Democrats take control of the chamber for the first time since a brief two-year stint in the late 1970’s. Democrats pulled off stunning election victories in all six contested seats Tuesday night, including unseating four incumbents and claiming two open seats. Burtis, who ran unopposed, said they got caught up in the blue wave that swept the country and the state.
“Things that are happening in Washington, all of it, has really been upsetting our residents," Burtis said. "It just came crashing down from the federal to the state to the county all the way to the town level. We've never seen that type of thing before.”
Burtis said voters clearly made their voices heard at the ballot box. Democratic floor leader Nodesia Hernandez said she, too, was surprised at the number of victories. She said elected officials at every level of government need to remember people of all political persuasions rely on government safety net programs.
“In the real world, they don't care about Republicans or Democrats," Hernandez said. "They care that they're not getting their stamps. They're not getting their Medicaid, Medicare, or HEAP. Their Section 8 is in jeopardy. They're worried about the Onondaga County daycare application being froze. They're just hurting, and they're living a life right now where they're scared.”
Many of those programs are not being funded because of either federal funding cuts or the government shutdown.
Now the burden is on the Democratic majority, which takes over in the new year, to prepare to lead the county legislature. Hernandez said she’s meeting with Chairman Burtis and former seasoned democratic lawmakers to get up to speed and set a transition plan in motion. Chairman Burtis said change is coming fast, and he hopes his counterparts are ready.
“As history has told us and it's been quoted, it's easy to win, it's hard to govern," he said.
