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March 08, 2006

Where are we headed?

Yesterday, Onondaga County Executive Nick Pirro gave the State of the County address (story - text PDF), and a few hours later, Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll gave the State of the City (story - text).

Any guesses as to which the Post-Standard led with? Oh, oops. It was the Barry Bonds doping story, which I wrote about here.

Before the speeches, Dick Case wrote a fantastic piece about how we need leaders with creativity, who will think outside of the box in bringing in new people, new business, and new revenue to Syracuse specifically and Onondaga County in general.

One thing we were watching for was for Driscoll -- whose speech was a solid four hours after Pirro's -- to respond to whatever Pirro said. We expected some bickering, except that it wouldn't be the two of them in the same room doing it.

Pirro tried a pre-emptive strike, saying everyone had to work together, no finger pointing, blah blah blah. And then Driscoll came out on a bit of an attack, saying -- in as political a way as possible -- that the city needs to stop supporting the rest of the county.

Pirro wants the city to stop bickering with the Destiny USA project. Driscoll wants the city to stop footing the bill for a highway program that fixes the interstates everywhere in the county except within city limits.

You get the picture. Pirro needs Syracuse. Driscoll doesn't need the county.

Both, however, need more money.

The county's big need is for Van Duyn Nursing Home, which is running an $8 million deficit this year. It just got a $2 million federal boost, but still is big in the hole. Pirro wants the state to help out.

The city needs a boost just about everywhere. Driscoll's plan includes charging for the use of Clinton Square for festivals, cutting funding for non-profits, and asking the state for more money.

Despite what appears to be a $1 billion surplus from last year, the state's not going to help out here. The budget is due April 1, and the legislature is looking at the possibility of getting in on-time budgets two years in a row. It's a little late to get a couple of pork projects in there now, no matter how badly we might need them.

One plan I think is realistic is a municipal utility. Not only will it save money by having the city create its own power rather than paying National Grid, but it leaves open the opportunity to make money by delivering power to residents.

I'd like to see Carousel Center back on the tax rolls. That'd fill a great big gap in the city budget -- $12 million a year, at least. They should be back on; Pirro says he's happy with the proof that Destiny's ready to move forward, but it's not his choice.

The city already uses electric vehicles for parking enforcement; perhaps some other transit necessities could turn to electric or hybrid vehicles -- that would save lots of money on fuel.

But beyond that, there needs to be a lot of working together. Pirro suggested a committee approach, and Sean Kirst writes that it's a great idea -- but it needs to include everybody, not just insiders.

I know I'd want to be on that committee.

It's going to be an interesting summer, it is.

Posted by josh at March 8, 2006 08:48 PM

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