Saving Mr. Ryan

Both Bill Ryan and Van Robinson, councilors-at-large, are giving up their seats to run for the post of Common Council president, soon to be vacated by Bea Gonzalez. Gonzalez and Robinson are both being squeezed out of their respective seats by the ghost of Lee Alexander, whose larcenous ways in City Hall led to term limits. Gonzalez decided to run for mayor until family and campaign finance issues caused her to drop out two weeks back.

But North Side native Ryan was elected to the Council in 2007 and his term won’t expire until 2011. So, he has thrown his hat into the ring for the Democratic nod for the Common Council presidency. But why not run for mayor instead of the sometimes ceremonial role of Council president? After all, the mayor runs the city, while the Council president’s official role is limited to presiding over meetings, breaking ties and standing ready to step up should the mayor vacate the office.

Bill Ryan (fourth from right): “People continue to leave the city, and a lot of it has to do with the perception of the schools. After a while perception becomes reality, and you have to change that perception.” MICHAEL DAVIS PHOTO

 

Ryan decided not to attempt to succeed Mayor Matt Driscoll, who is himself getting booted by the ghost of the Golden Greek, so he can keep the day job that he loves. “I was not through accomplishing what I needed to accomplish at the credit union,” said the 55-year-old Ryan, who decided earlier this year to compete for the job. “In the Common Council, and at the credit union, I have an opportunity to help someone every day. I’m a very fortunate person.”

Ryan has served the Syracuse Fire Department Employees Federal Credit Union as president and CEO since 1980. He lives on Feigel Avenue just northwest of Shop City (“Not Sedgwick,” he quipped. “They won’t have me.”) 

Ryan maintained that it’s not the roll call that matters, but the role he can play in the office. “In all my time on the Council,” he noted, “there was only one time when we didn’t know the results before the vote. That was the Ronald McDonald house vote last year {when the Council allowed the Ronald McDonald House to demolish the old Kingsley True mansion on East Genesee Street}. “The issue is ‘Where is the leadership? Where is consensus?’ The voting process is more of a formality—what goes on beforehand is the real work.

“Giving up my vote is less important than being able to work with the new mayor and the Common Council. I would approach the job as the conduit between the mayor and the Common Council. I would be the liaison between the School Board and the Council.”

And which of the candidates for mayor would he like to see take the corner office in City Hall? “I’ll work with whoever becomes mayor, but it’s no secret that Stephanie Miner and I have a good working relationship. My vote as a Democratic Committee member goes to Stephanie. She’s the brightest woman I have ever met. She’s compassionate, understanding. A wonderful person.” Ryan acknowledged that “the public perception of Stephanie Miner and the reality are very different.” 

Regarding her best-known opponent, Joe Nicoletti, Ryan is diplomatic yet clear. “Joe is a very affable guy. He’s everybody’s best friend in 30 seconds. I think you need a more serious demeanor and knowledge of a full range of issues than Joe has. He’s been out of government for eight years.”

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If elected, Ryan intends to make education his top priority. He believes that the Say Yes to Education program is “a game changer” for the city of Syracuse. Say Yes, now funded by both the city and state as well as private donations, provides support to struggling students and their schools, and offers college scholarships to all qualified graduates of city high schools. The program began in the Corcoran quadrant and will eventually serve the entire city. If this comes to pass, Syracuse will be the only city in the country to fully implement such an arrangement.

“I don’t take credit for a lot of things, but a year ago, when Say Yes came around, Stephanie Miner and I were the ones who said, ‘You gotta find a way to fund this.’ People continue to leave the city, and a lot of it has to do with the perception of the schools. After a while perception becomes reality, and you have to change that perception. Say Yes can really turn things around.”

He would like to streamline the process for deciding on school renovations. “I would love to have those Joint Schools Construction Board meetings on TV. You wouldn’t believe those meetings. It was like something from another planet. In 2009 we put two roofs on two buildings—that’s it.” Still he insists there is no divide between the Common Council and the School Board—both bodies have representatives on the JSCB. “We {councilors} just want to ask the hard questions.” 

His No. 2 priority, public safety, is very personal. Ryan’s 89-year-old mother was mugged outside Wegmans on Pond Street four years ago. “We need more officers on patrol. My view is that we have a lot of specialty squads, but I tell the mayor all the time, we need more patrols. We have 506 officers, we need more of them on patrol.”

Sounding for a moment like a candidate for mayor, Ryan gets adamant when he talks about his insistence that the head of the Police Department live in the city. “It’s unconscionable to have a chief who doesn’t live in the city. If you’re my chief you live in the city or you won’t be my chief. Period.” 

Ryan ventured further into mayoral prerogatives, suggesting that he might consider a nationwide search for the next police chief. “Sometimes those jobs create good old boy networks, and looking from without is a possibility.”

The city’s Democratic committees will be meeting in early May to select their candidates. A September primary for both the mayor and Common Council jobs remains a distinct possibility.

—Ed Griffin-Nolan