In about two months, three new faces will sit on Syracuse’s Common Council.

Councilor Bryn Lovejoy-Grinnell, of the 3rd district, and Councilor at-large Steve Thompson both lost their council seats in the Democratic primary. Councilor Chad Ryan, of the 2nd district, declined the Democratic nomination.

Democrat Chol Majok, School Board Member Rita Paniagua and Democrat Patrick Hogan will replace Lovejoy-Grinnell, Thompson and Ryan, respectively, in January. Despite the departing councilors’ differing experiences, each expressed a shared sense of camaraderie in interviews with The Daily Orange.

Thompson leaves behind a four-year term on the council that began in 2015, as well as a former career as the Syracuse Police Department chief.

He focused much of his efforts toward advocating for the needs of the police force and those on the council. Balancing the needs of the Syracuse community alongside budgetary restrictions and the goals of the Mayor’s Office was part of the challenge in doing that, he said.

Ryan’s leave comes after six years in office, having been first elected in 2013 at the age of 28. Once a newcomer to local politics himself, Ryan emphasized his reliance on the support of his colleagues, reflecting on shifting dynamics between Mayor Ben Walsh and former mayor Stephanie Miner as well as council members themselves.

Lovejoy-Grinnell, the council’s most recent newcomer, echoed Ryan in discussing the community formed between councilors. She was sworn in early 2019 as an appointed successor to former Councilor Susan Boyle, who left office mid-term to assume a different role in the county executive’s administration.

Serving on the council helped Lovejoy-Grinnell recognize the unique needs and identities of the neighborhoods in her district, she said. Having only lived in the city’s Strathmore neighborhood, representing the 3rd district allowed her to learn and understand the concerns and perspectives of residents in the Valley, Southside and Outer Comstock areas, she said.

As district councilors, Lovejoy-Grinnell and Ryan said they faced different demands from their respective constituents.

“People have trouble navigating through the city’s bureaucracy and they have trouble getting things done,” Ryan said. “There’s a lot we can do to just get in the middle there, find out what the disconnect is, (and) see if there’s anything that can be done.”

Sometimes outside factors prevented the council’s work from effectively meeting community needs, Ryan said. Thompson said financial barriers often prevented the councilors from being able to fully resolve contentious community disputes.

“At the local level, you don’t have a lot of power as a councilor to enact something,” Thompson said. “You don’t have money really at your disposal like the federal government, the state government has in order to prioritize that and get things done.”

Certain institutional barriers in the council’s structure magnified those limitations, Lovejoy-Grinnell said. City departments generally only advise councilors six business days prior to council meetings, narrowing the scope of understanding on major issues, she said.

Consolidating city government and restructuring districts would be one step toward increasing council efficiency, Ryan said. A proposition to redraw district boundaries after the upcoming census was passed in November, according to preliminary results from the recent general election.

With less than six weeks remaining in their tenures, the three have each begun to plan for their futures beyond the council. They all said they wished to remain politically active though their avenues differed.

Thompson said he was unsure of what his next steps would be. Ryan said he was considering a potential return to the council in a few years after he focuses on his sobriety, which was the reason for his departure. Ryan took a four-month leave of absence in 2018 to receive treatment for a substance addiction.

Lovejoy-Grinnell said she was looking forward to returning to private life and directing her attention to her job as director of Legal Services at Vera House.

“My fellow councilors work hard to provide service to constituents and engage with the problems our city is facing,” Lovejoy-Grinnell said. “I hope that the new councilors bring some new perspectives to the group.”

Published on November 10, 2019 at 9:51 pm

Contact Marnie: ammunozc@syr.edu