Democratic Onondaga County legislators gathered in their caucus room Thursday, two days after an Election Day surprise doubled their membership, from 5 to 10.
For the first time in nearly 50 years, Democrats will be in the majority on the 17-member board. In January, they will have new powers to lead committees, fight for spending on their priorities and to push back on Republican County Executive Ryan McMahon.
Their first order of business was to huddle privately to discuss leadership positions and how to approach the issues they promised in their campaigns. For at least one incumbent, that includes figuring out whether it’s too late to do something else with the aquarium under construction at the Inner Harbor.
“It’s so unprecedented, we don’t even know what to do,” said Maurice “Mo” Brown, a legislator for just two years. “Should we start airing everything out? Because you’re probably going to see how naïve we are.”
Democrats have grown comfortable in their roles as watchdog underdogs without immediate access to county department heads, much say in the $1.6 billion budget or the ability to pass legislation. They have just one staff member while Republicans have six.
In recent years, they have also lost seniority among their own ranks. Charles Garland, a funeral director elected in 2021, is the longest-serving Democrat.
In January, they will have four returning members. Three - Brown, Dan Romeo and Nodesia Hernandez, the minority leader - are each in their first two-year term.
Six new members won election Tuesday – defeating some long-term incumbent Republicans.
Democrat Gregg Eriksen said he was optimistic he could win a seat in a solidly Republican district in the historically Republican Onondaga County Legislature.
By the end of Election Day, he realized that he would be joined by enough new Democrats to create a majority.
“It was like ‘Now we have to govern! Holy cow!’ ” he said.
In the last two days, Democrats have reached out for advice from retired county legislators and state representatives who are used to being in the majority party.
First, they have to decide who will be chairman of the entire legislature in January.
Brown is the only candidate who has said publicly that he wants to do it. He is a professional political campaigner in his day job. He has time.
“The Onondaga County budget is, I think, the main vestige of power in this community,” he said. “The way that the budget process works is the executive comes up with the plans, he creates a budget and then he gives it to the legislative chair for review. I want to be that person to review.”
Hernandez said she supports Brown. She said she would like to be majority leader. Hernandez is a staff member in the state Senate for May.
As the current minority leader, she said she has learned from one-on-one negotiations with the current Republican leadership – Chairman Tim Burtis and Majority Leader Brian May.
“I would like to be able to grow and as a majority leader. Why not?” she said. “I stood up when nobody else really wanted to be minority leader and I did the work. So let me, even if it’s just for one year, let me celebrate as majority leader.”
Other legislators said they were not ready to talk about leadership roles.
Garland said he is still absorbing the magnitude of the situation.
“With all this power, there’s a lot of responsibility,” he said. “So that’s why we’re really not outwardly talking about it right now.”
The four incumbent legislators expect to meet with the six new legislators next week, he said.
“Let them rest. Let them enjoy it,” he said.
Elaine Denton is the only new legislator-elect to attend Thursday’s regular session meeting. She is a former Manlius town councilor. When asked if she would like to be chair, she said, she was still digesting the results.
“I’ll have to report back on that,” she said.
So far, the future members of the Democratic caucus are speaking in general terms about their priorities: Transparency, cooperation with McMahon, more investments in health and social programs.
New Democrat Jeremiah Thompson, an actor and writing teacher, said it’s easy to come in with a priority list: Infrastructure, transportation, workforce development, affordable housing for workers at the Micron plant.
But there are immediate needs to consider with the federal government shutting off SNAP food stamp benefits.
“It’s real and it’s immediate and that’s something that we have to pay attention to,” he said.
Hernandez said she wanted to have a pot of money they could use to help community groups. She said county government spends a lot of time making sure facilities and human services departments are sustainable, but sometimes they drop the ball on small non-profit groups that need help with something like a new refrigerator for a food pantry.
One topic sure to come up quickly is the aquarium. Democrats have pushed back on the new county-owned aquarium since McMahon proposed it.
Brown said he would consider using the building for something else.
“I would like to pay for a study to see where are we with the aquarium because there’s so much mystery and confusion there,” Brown said. “What’s been paid for? What’s been promised? And then I want that study to assess what else that building can be used for in this current state instead of an aquarium.”
Hernandez said she would consider it. When they talk about the aquarium, she said, the discussion is about the construction of a building, but there is so much more to sort out.
“We’re not speaking about the exotic fish that have to go in there. We’re not speaking about the operation of it,” she said. “We’re not even speaking about the parking lot.”
Garland said he wants more transparency about private donors who are filling in a funding gap.
Romeo said he had not thought about putting something else in the aquarium.
“That’s a discussion that we would have to have,” he said. “And if we were to do something like that, what are the options?”
Eriksen said he expects basic orientation meetings before they tackle policy.
Housing is one of his top priorities, especially as Micron comes in.
That would include having the county create incentives for towns and other municipalities to amend their zoning laws to set aside land for affordable housing like “townhouses and starter homes.”
Eriksen has had experience with zoning issues after serving as a trustee for the village of Skaneateles.
“It’s important that we streamline this process,” he said.
In addition to specific issues, Eriksen said it’s important for the new Democratic majority to decide how they will work with McMahon. He plans to use his experience as a lawyer trying cases to help him with that.
“I’m a litigator, so yes I’m used to fighting for positions I believe in, working with an opponent to find a workable solution,” he said. “I know Democrats are happy, but we have to remember that people want a reliable government that will meet them where they are. They still want their roads plowed.”
Democrat Chad Ryan, who was elected Tuesday, is the son of Ed Ryan, who served for years in the minority in the county legislature. He said Democrats will have to coordinate amongst themselves and learn to work with Republicans.
He said he does not want to be chair. He would support Romeo, a former school board member, for the job, he said.
“There’s going to be anger from both sides for the first time in a long time. People are going to have to come to the table,” he said. “It’s going to be really important work and whoever ends up as chair of the legislature is going to have their work cut out for them.”
Don Cazentre contributed to this report.
