Syracuse Common Council candidates had a chance to tell voters how they can improve the city at a recent NAACP forum. Three Democrats are vying for an open councilor-at-large seat, Helen Hudson, Moise Laub and Cjala Surratt.
Former Council President Hudson has held an elected position with the city for 15 years. She said one of her main accomplishments was targeting gun crimes.
“I organized a group called Mothers Against Gun Violence to where we would go out into the streets and we would talk to the young men. And we would work with the families of homicide victims to let them know that they weren't alone, that somebody actually cared about what happened to their baby. I created trauma response team. So now we have a group of young people that works with the trauma response team,” said Hudson.
She said she’d like to see more police officers hired to cut down on the excessive overtime costs, “and I'd like to see the police come from the communities that they serve. Because when you talk to young black kids, they really don't want to be police. We have to get them to understand that that's going to be one of the most prominent jobs in the community that they live in. And what better way for people to see people that look like them in policing in the communities?”
Hudson added would put some teeth back into the citizen review board, and said she wants to continue to be a catalyst as the city is “blooming.”
Haitian immigrant Moise Laub credited Syracuse for welcoming him into the community. As Chair of the Board for Cooperative Federal Credit Union, he recalled working on economic diversity.
“I really wanted to bring black voices into the conversation so policies can help people in the community. We knew a barrier for people to get accounts was that they had this monthly fee so people couldn't keep their accounts. As a board, we voted to remove that policy so that way people can have a bank account,” said Laub.
Laub said he’d expand workforce development to put people in line for coming jobs, including transportation assistance to those jobs. He would also require businesses to have enforceable local hiring agreements.
But, he added, more targeted efforts might be necessary to help reduce poverty, “by having specific neighborhood initiative, development fund, working with Syracuse University and asking them to do more because they're right by the south side.”
The Onondaga County Democratic Party’s pick, Cjala Surratt, said she helped the community by heading up a post-COVID fund to keep artists working and being able to take care of families. Looking ahead, Surratt said she would advocate for human services.
“We are dealing with the effects of over 600 of our black youth in particular being poisoned every year by lead. We're also dealing with … a complete retraction of funding from the federal level. So a lot of those safety nets that were in place are not there. And our nonprofit organizations are trying to do the lift, and they do not have the bandwidth,” Surratt said.
She would make youth services a priority of the Council, “So how can we look at our budget to allocate dollars to make sure that we're supporting these organizations so that they are fortified, but also being in a more pointed conversation with the county because a lot of these services are coming through them.”
Surratt added, her 15 years in community engagement and advocacy can help the city.
Surratt, Laub and Hudson vie for the Democratic nomination for a Councilor at Large seat in the June 23 primary. Early voting starts June 13.
