“First Gentleman,” suggested one observer at the
celebration of Miner’s election held at the Sheraton University Hotel
on election night. Noting the Alaska precedent of Todd Palin, a
reporter suggested that Mannion might want to be known as the “First
Dude.” Mannion expressed his preference, wanting to be known as “the
forgotten man.”
Miner thanked Mannion twice in her victory speech, first
when she thanked her family, and later when she paid special tribute to
those “men who have decided to get involved with temperamental women.”
With that note, Miner demonstrated that she can poke fun at charges
made that she creates problems for herself with her temperament and
demeanor.
Lance Denno, one of three candidates for
councilor-at-large, was wearing running shoes “just in case” he had to
make a hasty exit. Denno lamented that he had been unable to work as
hard as he would have liked, or raise the funds needed for an intensive
campaign, largely due to an illness in his family. The retired deputy
fire chief and current Fifth District councilor need not have worried,
as he easily defeated Republican Fanny Villareal for the second of two
seats available.
Denno was philosophical before the results came in: “The sun will come up tomorrow either way.”
As far as working with the new mayor, Denno, an early
supporter of Miner, was upbeat about the prospect of new leadership
from City Hall. “She can pull people together,” he said. “She’s got
something of a bad rap on that one. If you look at her position on
Destiny, she was the one who brought
us around. In the early stages the Council was not going to vote
against the tax breaks {for the construction of Destiny USA}. She made
the case on the best evidence. She can bring people around to her point
of view. She does her homework.”
Still, said Denno, “I do not envy her. The biggest
problem is going to be the budget. This will be the worst budget year
in modern memory.”
Jean Kessner, a familiar face to many from her
years as a reporter for then-called WIXT- Channel 9, seemed relieved
that the campaign was winding down. As she awaited the results, she
spoke of spending the day visiting various polling places, bringing
refreshments to the poll workers. “People come up to you and say they
recognize you and they’re proud of you, and they voted for you,” she
said. “That makes you feel good. That really helps.”
She did not appear to enjoy the electoral process nearly
as much as some other candidates. “You just want to do some good for a
city you love, and first you have to go through this,” she said,
referring to the election.
At the end of the night, Kessner had little to worry
about, coasting to victory with the highest total of any of the three
at-large candidates. Her vote count was 13,648 votes, compared to
10,036 for Denno and 7,624 for Republican Fanny Villareal.
The first family of Syracuse: Jack Mannion and Stephanie
Miner on Election Night, when she became the first woman mayor of
Syracuse. {MD PHOTO}
