In somewhat of a surprise move, Syracuse Common Councilors Monday unanimously appointed a candidate whose name had not been publicly mentioned to fill President Helen Hudson’s former at-large seat. Democrat Michael Greene’s resume rose to the top of the stack.
New 5th district councilor Joe Driscoll made the motion to appoint Greene after discussions revealed he’d have strong support.
"He showed a tremendous work ethic that we all respected and admired in his unsuccessful bid for the 4th [district seat]. He really showed that he's willing to dedicate the time, energy, and effort to the job. That was a huge factor in our decision making."
Greene, 30, lost a primary bid for the 4th district seat now occupied by Latoya Allen. Driscoll says they received about a dozen resumes, and interviewed the top three candidates. Lanessa Owens was one of them…her name was first floated earlier this month. Driscoll says she and Chol Majok were impressive, but Greene seemed to have the strongest handle on the issues.
"When he was advocating for himself, he delivered a well-prepared dossier for all of us, detailing every issue that would be before the council in the coming year, all the research he had done, his stance on different issues and what he hoped to achieve during his time on the council. I felt it was a lot more than any other candidate had presented."
But Greene’s appointment is only temporary. Voters will decide this fall if they want him to stay. Greene seems fully aware that he needs to quickly connect with residents.
"One of my first steps is going out in the community and holding an office-hours type environment where people can come, get coffee, tell me what their issues are, what might be important to them. Because I wasn't directly elected by the people, [I want] to make myself really transparent and open to people coming to talk to me about their ideas."
Greene's background is in economic development, and wants to focus on that while on the council. He was raised on Onondaga Hill and spent eight years working in government roles in the New York City area before returning to Syracuse. He lives in Armory Square and manages office buildings in DeWitt.
