Children’s Rising

Photo by BLUEPRINT 15

The article detailing the cancellation of millions of dollars in federal funding for revitalizing the neighborhood near I-81 lays bare a second consecutive loss to the community. Those Federal dollars were intended to support the installation of new trees, walking and bike paths, lighting, sidewalks and streets, which in turn would have also supported the Children's Rising Center. That project, now dead, suffered from a lack of leadership and a hands-off management approach at City Hall.

The Mayor and Deputy Mayor Owens missed the opportunity to deliver this transformative project. Because there was no oversight, no communication and no willingness to lead, critical deadlines were missed, and the “Children’s Rising” project became a victim of mismanagement.

To be clear, the Mayor identified the Children's Rising project across multiple years in his annual State of the City as a priority project. The project required three entities to execute this vision; City Hall, the Syracuse Housing Authority (SHA) and Blueprint 15. Regrettably the lack of oversight and missed deadlines led to finger pointing and blame, the classic "it wasn't me" excuse.

The Mayor has five (5) appointments to the SHA Board of Directors and Deputy Mayor Owens is the President of Blueprint 15. Apparently, the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor never communicated to each other where this priority project was in the process or coordinated their roles and responsibilities in leading this project to fruition.

This long-standing pattern of mismanagement and a hands-off approach at City Hall is unacceptable. The status quo isn’t working. We know Syracuse can do better. Syracuse families deserve leadership that will show up, hold people accountable and restore accountability to City Government.

-Pat Hogan