Controversy Occurs Between Onondaga County Legislators in Directors' Appointments

October 18, 2009

The Onondaga County Legislature confirmed six Republicans as directors of the new Onondaga Civic Development Corporation Tuesday. Although the vote was unanimous, the agreement was not.

Legislators agreed that the new corporation is critical for the expansion of St. Joseph’s Hospital. Still some Democrats said they had no input in choosing the board members. County Executive Joanie Mahoney and Legislature Chair William Meyer, R-Cicero, made the nominations.

"They (Republicans) don't talk to us," William Kinne, D-Syracuse, said after the meeting.

Floor Leader Kathleen Rapp, R-Liverpool, countered that the information about the new directors had been available for two weeks and that the Democrats had an equal amount of input as the Republicans.

Thomas Dadey, Jr., Cydney Johnson, Matthew McAnaney, James Farrell, Donald Colon, and Dale Sweetland were confirmed as the new board directors. Democrats were concerned that the new members of the board do not represent the community at large, as Cydney Johnson was the only female and minority representative. Kinne said he would have liked for the Republicans to reach out more to people of different backgrounds.

“The greater the dynamic of the group, the better ideas you get.”

The Republicans hold the majority of the legislature 11-8 and disagreements between the two parties are common. Contradictory to Rapp, Sam Laguzza, D-Syracuse, said the culture is political.

“If the Democrats were in control, we’d probably be doing the same thing,” he said. “It’s the nature of the beast.”