Onondaga County voters will head to the polls Tuesday to choose their next county executive. Toby Shelley says he wants to give voters a choice, and thinks there are many who are frustrated with Joanie Mahoney. He describes himself as a moderate democrat who’s fiscally conservative…creating a unique political dynamic…
"A lot of people I think may perceive her as more democratic than me, which makes it an interesting race. Will some hard-core republicans vote for me? No. Will they vote for her? No. You might see an undervote in that regard. But you're also going to see some of these republicans vote on the conservative line."
…which shelly has also secured. With eight years behind her, Mahoney says she’s learned a lot about being more collaborative, and the deliberate nature of government…even though she knows some feel she moves too quickly.
"I do think that the perception matters as much as the reality. I want to make sure people feel that there's a thoughtful, deliberative process. But it is frustrating sometimes the pace that government works at."
Perhaps one of the strikes against Mahoney's tenure is the failure to negotiate a mutually agreeable contract with members of the county’s largest workers union…the CSEA. They’ve been without a contract for most of her last term. Their previous agreement expired in 2012.
"During 2008 to 2012, there were over 15% raises. That was a difficult time for our country and certainly our local economy. We asked during that period of time for concessions and did not get them. I think we also have to balance the interest of the rest of the taxpayers."
But Toby Shelley understands why the workers rejected the latest contract offer due to increased health care costs.
"If you make less than $50,000 as a county employee...and more than 2,000 make less than that amount...your paycheck will go down if you agree to that contract. So why would they agree to a contract when, right away, their paycheck goes down? Obviously, the contract has to be fair to the taxpayers, which the county employees are, and it has to be fair to those union workers."
