Syracuse Common Council

An increasingly disgruntled Syracuse common councilor accused the mayor's office of misleading taxpayers about the city and Onondaga County's merger of their planning departments.

Just as Monday's routine pre-meeting study session was wrapping up, councilor Lance Denno called the mayor's press secretary, Alexander Marion, before them.

Just a handful of Syracuse residents turned up to the Common Council's first public hearing on the lengthy and divisive debate over the future of Interstate 81 through the city's core.

Previous public forums hosted by transportation planners brought out hundreds of people and generated an equal number of comments and different opinions.

Concerns over tax increases for businesses along the Connective Corridor in Syracuse have derailed plans to keep the new infrastructure maintained.

When it was time to vote on creating a new Special Assessment District for the businesses on the eastern end of the Connective Corridor, Councilor Lance Denno tabled the resolution, essentially blocking a vote at today's meeting. He says some businesses would see their city tax bill double if this new district is created.

Syracuse Common Councilor Pat Hogan has officially announced that he'll join the primary for mayor of Syracuse.

Hogan says this election will paint a clear difference between him and Mayor Stephanie Miner, who's running for re-election.

"It's a choice between collaboration or combativeness, constituents or cronyism, community or concentration of power and transparency or closed door deals," he said.

One of the sitting Syracuse common councilors who failed to get support from the Syracuse Democratic Committee this spring, has announced a primary run.

Syracuse Councilor at Large Jean Kessner will soon begin gathering the 1,000 valid petition signatures she'll need by mid-July to wage a primary election to hold on to her seat.

Syracuse Democratic party activist Gary Morris has dropped his bid to become president of the Syracuse Common Council and endorsed current president Van Robinson Monday.

The pleas of Syracuse firefighters pleas were answered by the city's common councilors as they voted to restore cuts to the fire department.   But, the vote by the council to shift money in the mayor's proposed budget, doesn't mean the Syracuse Fire Department will get that money.

The Southeast University Neighborhood Association has been fighting back against an invasion for decades.

Syracuse lawmakers Tuesday got an earful about the pros and cons of closing down a fire station as the Common Council held a hearing on the future of Station 7 on the city's east side.

Syracuse will begin going after the roughly 19,000 drivers with multiple unpaid parking tickets in a few months thanks to a new deal to ramp up "booting."

The son of a former Syracuse Common Councilor has announced plans to run for the Syracuse 1st District councilor seat. Joe Carni is the latest of a crop of young candidates Republicans are hoping will revitalize their party in the City of Syracuse.

A group of private jet owners will build and operate its own hangar at Syracuse's Hancock Airport.

It began sending out foreclosure notices for the first time last month, but a long-term funding source for Syracuse and Onondaga County's newly formed land bank is just starting to come into focus; though some details remain to be worked out.

Syracuse is the latest community in New York state that has banned bath salts and other synthetic drugs.  Legislators are taking a two-pronged approach to fight the substances, that can cause violent and unpredictable behavior among abusers.