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Five candidates are running for election in the 2021 Syracuse mayoral race — two Republicans, two Democrats and incumbent Mayor Ben Walsh running as an independent. The Democrats and Republicans will face each other in the June 22 primary with the winners of both primaries going up against Walsh on Nov. 9.

Here’s a breakdown of each candidate’s background and plan for the city, in alphabetical order:

Thomas Babilon (R)

Thomas Babilon is an attorney running in the Republican primary for mayor. He has been endorsed by the Libertarian Party and ran as a Libertarian candidate for Common Council in 2018. He has practiced law for 18 years, with 10 spent as assistant corporation counsel to the city of Syracuse.

“There’s not very much that I don’t want to (change),” Babilon said. “But primarily, we really need to do something about economic development in the city, give our young people opportunities so they can stay here instead of moving to other places.”

Babilon promises no tax increases during his term and also promises to keep the Columbus Square statue standing. Mayor Ben Walsh announced that the statue will be removed and the square renamed after demands and protests from the Indigenous community.

“I’ve got almost 10 years in city hall,” Babilon said. “I’m the person who used to explain the legislation to the councilors and the mayor. The mayor and councilors would come to me for ideas on how to make legislation better. I’ve seen city hall from the inside out for a longer period of time than any of the other candidates.”

Councilor Khalid Bey (D)

Khalid Bey is a councilor-at-large on the Common Council. He served as the councilor for the Southside from 2011 to 2018 and has served in an at-large seat since. He has advocated for grassroots economic development, especially on the Southside.

“I have a more of an intimate understanding of what’s going on, and I think my catalogue of work speaks to that,” Bey said. “I’ve written more legislation than anybody in the past 25 years and all of my work has been organic. It has been people-driven.”

Bey narrowly lost out on the Democratic Party endorsement to fellow Councilor Michael Greene and will not seek re-election in the council this year.

“I’m more ingrained in our city with the most primary issues of today, whether you’re talking about concentrated poverty, whether you’re talking about violence in communities,” Bey said. “I still live around the corner from the neighborhood I grew up in.”

Janet Burman (R)

Community activist Janet Burman is making public safety her key issue as a mayoral candidate. She has received the endorsement of the Republican Party despite concerns that running a Republican could hurt the more moderate Mayor Ben Walsh against a Democratic candidate.

“My first priority is what government’s first priority should be: the safety of its citizens,” Burman said. “I feel that the current city leadership has failed us in that they have not made it their first priority.”

Burman ran against Democrat Rachel May for the state Senate’s 53rd District in 2018, which May won. She has previous experience as a district administrator on the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board and has led the Republican Women of Central New York since 2018.

“I have almost 40 years experience working in the private sector, working for state government and working in the community,” Burman said. “When you go beyond the basic functions of city government to tackle the really difficult problems we face … that requires that we bring together everyone in our community, all levels of government and businesses to effectively address those problems.”

Councilor Michael Greene (D)

Michael Greene, who received the Democratic Party endorsement, was appointed to an at-large seat in the Common Council in 2017 and has served since after winning elections in 2018 and 2019. He began his public service experience at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the New York City Economic Development Corporation. He now chairs the Common Council Finance Committee.

Greene’s main priorities are housing, transportation, economic opportunity, police reform and climate change.

“(My platform goes) through different ways in which the city government could do more to make policy work for everyone, in particular the people that have been left behind,” Greene said.

Greene said he’s willing to “go against the grain” when needed. He voted against the contract with the police union in 2019 and was one of two councilors to vote against the Tech Garden expansion in March.

“I was comfortable standing up and (voting no), and I think when you look at the city and you look at how serious problems are, that’s the kind of leadership that’s required to be able to say, ‘I understand this is unpopular, but this is what needs to happen,’ and I’m comfortable in that position,” he said.

Mayor Ben Walsh (I)

Ben Walsh became the first independent mayor of Syracuse in over 100 years when he was elected in 2017. His reelection campaign hinges on a continuation of the “Rise Above” philosophy of his first term, emphasizing Syracuse’s position as a growing city. He has received the Independence Party endorsement.

“We’ve worked really hard over the past three plus years now towards our vision that we established in the very beginning of the administration,” Walsh said. “Our vision is for Syracuse to be a growing city that embraces diversity and creates opportunity for all.”

His key accomplishments as mayor include Syracuse Surge, which has attempted to draw high-tech business and manufacturing jobs to the city, as well as the opening of the Salt City Market downtown and the expansion of the Tech Garden, he said.

Walsh also points to increasing high school graduation rates in the city and a 6% decrease in crime in the last three years as evidence of his success as Mayor.

“We don’t want to just grow for the sake of growth — we want to grow in an intentional way that benefits all people in the city of Syracuse,” Walsh said. “For far too long our growth has been limited to only certain segments of our population. If we truly want to transform our city, we need to make sure that everyone is in a position to benefit.”

Published on May 2, 2021 at 9:59 pm

Contact Nick: [email protected] | @NickRobertsonSU