Before any or the current announced mayoral contenders declared their intentions for this fall’s race, Van Robinson’s name had been prominently mentioned. Then he generally deferred those discussions with a wait-and-see attitude. Now, having declared his candidacy for President of the Common Council, he reflects, “If it was ten or fifteen years ago, I would have jumped at it. But being mayor is a 24/7 job, and now, it just doesn’t fit with my family concerns. Now, I’m more interested in bringing other people along in the process, and you just can’t do that as mayor.”
Robinson still gets calls from people concerned with violations of their civil rights, just as he had since serving 12 years as president of the local chapter of the NAACP. A Syracuse resident since 1968, he is in the last year of his second term as a Common Councilor-at-Large. He has been actively involved with the school reconstruction issue, and sees the Say Yes program, providing college scholarships for graduates of city high schools as key to a successful future for the city. But he worries that African-Americans and Hispanics are suspicious of the program as a subterfuge, specifically to get middle class white folks back into the city.
Robinson says he would love to see city employees living within city limits, but maintains that no effort has gone into creating incentives toward that end, especially in housing opportunities.
Having lost most of the local manufacturing base, he feels economic stimulus should be applied to the transition to small information, technical, scientific and communications businesses. He is interested in creating new revenue streams, like a service fee, not a tax, on Syracuse University.
{Q}”I remember at one point there was a mayor who suggested a tax on Syracuse University,” Robinson recalls, “and what happened to him.”{Q}
Your campaign for Council President has been closely tied to your campaign to tear down Route 81. What is the status of that one?
It’s gotten to the point where it’s not if, but when 81 comes down. The big question we have to face now is what replaces 81? I had suggested a boulevard, however I’m open to anything that would eliminate 81 as it exists today, and gives us the possibility of some economic development, some residential housing, a safe corridor for traffic, both pedestrian as well as auto.
One of the side discussions we’re hearing about the contention for the Democratic nomination for Council President is that it might not be the right situation for a Caucasian candidate. Are we seeing a reversal of attitudes from the past?
I haven’t heard that before. Going back in the day, I can recall when it was extremely difficult for a person of color to get nominated by either party, Republican or Democrat. And if a person was nominated, it was very unlikely that the individual would get elected, especially on a citywide basis. As you well know, back in the day we joined forces to correct what we thought was wrong. Today there is definitely a change in the climate. I believe people are looking for a candidate who has the ability to grow Syracuse, someone who thinks out of the box, not afraid to take a chance on the unknown, someone who cares very much for the community and is not looking for a stepping stone to another position.
What does it mean to have the ability to grow Syracuse?
It’s somebody who looks at Syracuse and says, ‘Now where is the potential.’ I’ve done this. I’ve discovered, just recently, the difficult task ahead in bringing to fruition a comprehensive plan for the city. The last one was done, I think, in 1919. I found out, just recently, that having a plan makes us eligible for $10.5 million in state and federal grants. And as we move along there will be many, many more grants available if we have a plan in place.
What is the process involved?
Actually, it entails quite a bit of work. We engaged consultants who took a look at the city, who did some forecasts and projections, looked at its past. A comprehensive plan is as the name implies, comprehensive. It takes into consideration land use, zoning, neighborhoods, design of buildings, preservation of buildings. It tells you what you can and cannot do. We have a problem with developers who come in and say, ‘This is the way we build.’ But he neighborhood will say, ‘Now wait a minute, that doesn’t fit into the d (c)cor for the neighborhood, so we don’t want it.’ If you have a comprehensive plan, you would not have that problem with developers.
We were discussing at a meeting of the Council’s Neighborhood Preservation, Downtown and Regional Planning Committee whether or not a developer would be allowed to build on a piece of property. I said all we had to do was pull out the Comprehensive Plan and use it as a guideline. That’s when I found out that the last Comprehensive Plan was done in 1919. So I prevailed upon the mayor, at the time it was Bernardi, to set aside some money for a Comprehensive Plan review. He did allocate about $150,000. When Driscoll took over, he approached me and said, we’re in a dire situation and did I have a problem with his taking some of that item away. I said as long as you replace it.
The following year he replaced it and we set about finding a consultant. It took quite awhile, almost two years for us come to a Comprehensive Plan. Meanwhile, communities like Rochester over the years spent in excess of $6 million to develop a Comprehensive Plan. They are still adding to their plan. We decided that we would develop a plan that would allow contributions by neighborhoods to weigh in, to make a determination of how they wanted their neighborhoods to be reflected in the city pattern. The one plan that has been accepted thus far is the Southeast Gateway Plan.
Right now it looks like there will be Democratic primaries in your race and the mayor’s race. Is that healthy for the party, drain money, or just get people mad at each other?
It depends upon the individuals who are in the primary. If you’re going to run a dirty campaign it’s going to hurt.
If you run a campaign based upon issues, and appeal to the public as a person who would be able to apply the answers to some of the problems we have, there will be some advantage. If, however, you have a campaign that is run in the gutter, it will damage the party, and damage the individuals who are vying for that office.
Some see the office you’re running for as largely ceremonial. Others see real potential for playing an active role in the administration. How do you see it?
I perceive the office of President of the Council to be an extremely important office, one based upon our Charter.
The individual who holds that seat appoints committees among the councilors. Under the Charter it’s a person who meets on a very frequent basis with the mayor. It’s the person who gets the point of view of the Council across to the administration. Also they have the ability to be quite influential in how policy is determined by the administration. It has a very important responsibility after a Census year, reapportionment, redistribution of the voters in districts. The Council Presidency is a bully pulpit.
If you win, what kind of mayor do you want to work with?
Someone with vision. Someone not afraid to tackle financing the city. Someone whose ego would permit them to hire staff members who are smarter than they are themselves.
