The Syracuse Common Council on Monday voted unanimously to appoint a local real estate manager, Michael Greene, to a vacant councilor at-large seat.

Greene, who lost last year’s Democratic primary race for District 4 councilor, was selected to fill the vacancy created when Helen Hudson was elected president of the council. Hudson left her seat two years into her term.

“My background is in economic development, so that’s something I would look forward to working with the other councilors and the new administration on,” Greene said.

Greene, who lives in downtown Syracuse, is an alumnus of Cornell University. He grew up in central New York. During his initial primary campaign for District 4’s council seat last year, Greene focused on Syracuse’s high poverty rate and the city’s school district.

Greene is currently a real estate manager of Upstate Portfolio, LLC. He was also the assistant vice president of asset management of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, In that position, he was “responsible for budgeting and policy implementation for an asset management portfolio generating over $50 million in revenue annually,” according to his LinkedIn.

Before that, he was a labor relations analyst for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, per his LinkedIn. Greene worked in that position for more than five years.

Greene was sworn in after the vote and will participate in the council’s next meeting. He will fill the seat until the end of this year unless he runs for and wins the seat in November. A special election is required for him to again serve as a councilor in 2019.

District 5 Councilor Joe Driscoll, who was elected this past fall, issued the petition to nominate Greene. There was no discussion before the vote.

“I was very impressed by his dedication, his tenacity and his work ethic,” Driscoll said.

Greene’s “well-thought out responses to every issue” also set him apart from other candidates, Driscoll said.

Driscoll is a musician who was inspired by Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) presidential bid to get more involved in local politics. Driscoll said he supported Mayor Ben Walsh during the 2017 campaign.

Despite his vote in favor of Greene’s appointment, At-large Councilor Khalid Bey initially proposed the appointment of Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, a lawyer who has worked for the New York State Assembly.

Bey filed a resolution with the Common Council that was initially considered by the council on Jan. 8, records show.

“I fought hard, but I couldn’t get her,” Bey said, citing a lack of votes for Owens-Chaplin’s appointment.

At-large Councilor Tim Rudd, District 4 councilor Latoya Allen and Hudson supported Bey’s choice, he said. As president, Hudson is non-voting member of the council. Thus, Bey would have only had two councilors in his favor and five against.

Following weeks of consideration, Owens-Chaplin’s appointment was withdrawn during Monday’s meeting. After returning from an executive meeting, Greene’s appointment was announced. There was no public discussion of his nomination.

The open seat was hotly contested after Frank Cetera, a Green Party candidate who campaigned last fall for the open District 4 common councilor seat, said he was concerned that Bey submitted his resolution in support of Owens-Chaplin before an open period closed for submissions of public resumes for the position.

Published on January 22, 2018 at 11:34 pm

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