Alfonso Davis says people ask him all the time why he stays in Syracuse. He says he tells them that Syracuse is a diamond in the rough, and that he wants to be the one to buff the diamond.
After 13 years working on the line at New Process Gear, he took a buyout offer last year, and is currently self-employed as a consultant. “I believe in organized labor,” he says. “Organized labor built the middle class.” Davis is running for mayor in hopes of representing the interests of folks he worked the line with, so many of whom have lost the manufacturing jobs which have left the area.
But Davis is also running for mayor for Charles Anderson. Davis was running Anderson’s campaign when the former 4th District Common Councilor announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination for Council President. “Actually, Charles should have been mayor,” Davis says now. “So now he’s managing my campaign, so we’ll get there after all.” With roles now reversed, manager Anderson says he believes candidate Davis has a good shot at landing the Democratic mayoral nomination.
With all the announced prospective opponents being current or former elected officials, however, Anderson knows both of them will have to work extremely hard to be on the ballot in November.
You announced your candidacy in November, but your campaign seems low key. Have you been flying under radar?
We’ve been moving strategically, meeting with different people, particularly community-based people, particularly those people who have been disenfranchised or marginalized by city government, by city politics and the status quo. While we’ve been moving sort of low key, we’re here. And it’s known that we’re here, and that I’m running. And I’m not running to get my name out. I’m running to win.
To win in politics usually means raising money, which depends on name recognition, which depends on press coverage. Are you getting any recognition for what you’re doing?
Quite honestly, no. It seems as though when I announced, it was kind of a smidgen. But when my opponents announced it was a ticker tape parade. For many reasons, that is part of business as usual. It’s a part of who someone deems may be more formidable. I don’t feel slighted by it. All it says to me and my crew is that we have hard work to do. While my opponents are doing what they have to do, we’re working three times as hard, and we know that’s what it’s going to take. And we believe that we can make it happen.
You say you are running for the disenfranchised, and you say you’re running to win. Are those things mutually exclusive in Syracuse?
{Q}When I talk about the disenfranchised, there is an assumption that I’m just talking about people of color.{Q} There have been many people in this city, black, white, Hispanic, poor, who have been disenfranchised. There have been many people who worked on issues in the city with TNT and other organizations, and the administration came and took it away form them, thinking they could do it better. Those people have been disenfranchised, and a majority of them are Caucasian. When I talk about people disenfranchised, I’m talking about the city in its entirety.
I’m not running to be the black mayor. I’m running to be the mayor.
Most mayoral candidates are identified in some way with the city’s power elite. You seem to be running against the power elite. Will that be problematic for getting on the ballot with a party nomination?
It will be interesting. We’re going to fight for the party nomination. I’m going to do everything I have to do as a member of the 17th Ward committee. I’ve served on several ward committees, so I know the process. We’re going to lobby, to meet with them and talk with them, and attempt to convince them that I am the best choice to be the Democratic nominee for mayor. At the end of the day, when the committees, 1 through 19, have come together and made a decision as to who they will give the nod to, then myself and my committee will sit back and assess our options and move from there.
Primary may be one of those options?
Primary may be a possibility.
Are people of color in this city a voting bloc?
Absolutely. It could be, and it has been that way for years. It’s just that people in this city, when you’re talking about the African-American vote and the Hispanic vote, haven’t really had anyone to let them know that they can control any major election, or let them know that they have the capability of bringing a dream to fruition for a long shot. Now I don’t consider myself a long shot, although I know the mainstream considers me a long shot.
Maybe 15 years ago we put together a program called the ABC’s of Politics. We were holding the forums at King School. Basically that was to educate and assist the community to the power of the vote, and their ability to carry any election. While it didn’t go as far as we would have liked it to go, it went far enough that people became more informed. What I’m getting from people on the streets is, “I’m glad to see you running,” or “I’m excited about the prospects just as I was excited about the prospects when I voted for Barack.”
Is there any contradiction to all you say when you’re running against Common Council President Bea Gonzalez, a candidate of color, who has announced, and already has a foot in the door at City Hall?
It’s not a contradiction, because it is known among people in the political process that I was considering running. It was known during the last election for Council seats that I was considering running in 2009. It was confirmed when we were in Denver, when we went to support Barack, where I said that I believed I was definitely going to run. I had been praying on it, and I got my answer in Denver. When we got back from Denver, Bea jumped out early, because, she said, she had trouble raising money.
If you’re going to win, you have to tap more than one segment of the population. Is there one issue that touches everybody in Syracuse?
Absolutely. That’s a real true comprehensive economic development plan. Everybody in this city wants it, feels it, knows that it can happen, but never have seen it materialize in the true sense. When I become the mayor of Syracuse, we will make sure that the concept of comprehensive economic development will be laid forward. Part of that would be supporting and encouraging small businesses. While Destiny is an OK idea, I don’t believe in giving away the store for Destiny, for if Destiny folds, or doesn’t end up to what they’re saying it will end up, where’s the city at. It’s truly the small business owner that makes this economy turn. Under my administration we will do whatever it takes to make sure small business is successful.
Now I’m not a fan of Giuliani, but that’s one thing he did in New York City. He set a goal for support to small businesses, with a follow through. Small business hires local, which could be a factor in helping our young people.
The city school districts admits to a drop out rate of 50 percent. Can City Hall have any impact on what’s happening in the schools?
One of the things I have always believed in, as a community activist and a community organizer, is that the mayor and the {school} superintendent have a workable relationship. That must happen. When that happens then you can seriously work together on the issues facing our youth: the dropout rate, the physical condition of the schools, getting qualified teachers, making sure our buildings are equipped with the best technology.
Once we have that, we have target children who we know are college bound. We want them to have the necessary tools for college. And then we have our children who we know are not college bound. We will foster relationships with the small businesses in the community to prepare them that once those youth get their high school diploma or their GED, they will be workforce ready. That can’t happen if the superintendent and the mayor are constantly at odds, and it has been that way for some time.
Another such relationship is that between the mayor and the County Executive. Many speak of metropolitanization as the solution to urban problems. Could you see working yourself out of a job by merging city and county government functions?
No. Quite honestly, I don’t particularly support metropolitanization. I don’t disagree that there needs to be a collaboration, between the mayor and Joanie Mahoney. Joanie and I went to high school together at Corcoran. I know Joanie. I don’t foresee a problem in communication or working together. But as city administrator, I will deal with issues effecting the city, and I would expect that she would deal with issues effecting the county.
There have been efforts to recruit people of color for the city police and fire departments, yet you have the development of Camp 415 in the SPD and FOCUS {Firefighters of Color United in Syracuse}. Is there a problem of collaboration within the city?
Absolutely. Absolutely. And that problem extends from the top down. If you’re not interested that within city departments a cohesiveness exists, or is being worked toward, then you will continue to get the same. FOCUS was created because firefighters of color saw a need. Camp 415 was created because police officers of color saw a need. Otherwise those two organizations wouldn’t exist. If the Chief of Police and the Fire Chief and the Mayor aren’t saying, “What are we not doing to see that there is inclusion,” and “What are we not doing to see that when the test becomes available that we are aggressively seeking people from every part of the community to become part of this process,” if that conversation is not taking place, then of course you’re going to get what you have.
Will your administration tear down Route 81?
I’ve been trying to get a perspective on both sides. I’ll be honest. We’re still pondering that concept. I want to make sure whatever decision is made is the best decision for the city, for the longevity of the residents of the city. This has to be scrutinized and examined, and all parties of interest have to be at the table to discuss it.
As mayor you would have to sell Syracuse to prospective business and development. What do we have that you could sell?
They say it’s the Emerald City, but Syracuse is truly a diamond in the rough. Great central location. The resources. Water. Syracuse University, ESF, LeMoyne College, OCC. You have to truly be an ambassador. You have to show people how it would be to their advantage to locate here. Part of that is making sure that we take down these invisible barriers that currently exist, that separate the city, and bring true synergy to the city.
We’ve heard all that before. How come it hasn’t sold?
I’ll try to say this very nicely. It’s because, whoever the seller is, the seller just hasn’t done a good job.
