Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner signed a law Thursday that she believes is a major step towards eliminating economic inequality in the City of Syracuse. The Resident Hiring Ordinance requires 20 percent of workers on city contracts over $100,000 be residents of the city.
The crowd of Syracuse residents, Urban Jobs Taskforce members, and city officials gathered at the Southwest Community Center erupted into applause when Mayor Miner signed the Resident Hiring Ordinance into law. The mayor sees the legislation as an important first step to closing the gap between the haves and have nots in Syracuse.
"We've seen an incredible disparity," Miner said. "We have neighborhoods that are blossoming. Lots of construction going on. And we have neighborhoods suffering pernicious poverty. This is a way to take the booming economy and make sure that it's bringing all people along."
Syracuse resident and taskforce member Louise Poindexter says she’s glad the law, which is over four years in the making, is finally on the books. Now, she says, it’s up to citizens to make sure their elected officials enforce it.
"Keep supporting it, keep asking questions," Poindexter said. "Where are the people working on these jobs. Where are the people in these neighborhoods, people of color and people of low income, where are they working on these jobs. Everyone that gets some money should be accountable."
The mayor says companies who fail to meet hiring requirements won’t be able to do future work with the city, but stresses that the law is not designed to be punitive in nature.
"We're not looking to penalize people; we're looking to incent it," Miner said. "That's why we have a compliance officer, a technology program to measure the data. We'll have a board that works with this, too. The ultimate goal is to get people jobs and skills, and work with employers to do this. This is what we need to do to be a better community, and to make sure people from our community benefit."
Miner hopes to partner with local education centers to focus on workforce development and skills training as the next step.
