One of Camillus’ two new councilors is Mike LaFlair, whose specific spot is the second ward. His background includes an MBA from LeMoyne College, with a lot of work at profit and not-for-profit organizations. He was appointed to the Camillus Zoning Board of Appeals in 2009, a spot he still holds today.
He won election in November over incumbent Mark Kolinski and has taken office in 2012, and will tell you in a short sentence about his political affiliation.
“Yeah, I’m a devout Republican, but I’m also open-minded,” LaFlair said in a phone interview. “I’m more than willing to listen — I try to get back to everyone as soon as I can. Communication between the town and the town government is key.”
LaFlair found this out by going door-to-door, asking residents just what they wanted in their local government. While it’s only been a few days since he took his new spot, LaFlair said he’s already learning a lot.
A husband and father of three daughters, LaFlair said he has three major issues he wants to tackle.
“The first is communication, first and foremost,” he said. “People want to know what’s going on on a regular basis. Apparently the person before me wasn’t great at returning calls, so I’m hoping to change that.”
His second thing is economic development in the local community, from small businesses on up. He is in the process, he says, of making it easier for potential business owners to begin a start-up by centralizing the process. Instead of having people run all over the place to firm things up, LaFlair hopes to one day have the process of landing a permit all in one place.
“I try to be proactive,” said LaFlair, who was elected Treasurer of the Onondaga Republican Committee in 2010.
The final point he made was about government consolidation. He said he has a great deal of experience in the field; he worked on the Government Modernization Committee for Syracuse 2020, educating citizens about how consolidation works. He knows this isn’t a great economic time, so his goal is to trim what he can while giving the citizens as much as they need.
So far, he has put that experience to work, decreasing the size of the planning board in Camillus. He declined to go into further detail on other things in the works.
“We’re working with the Chamber of Commerce on a few other consolidation things,” he said.
LaFlair said he’s always open to feedback, and more than ready to answer any questions. He updates his page on the town’s website two-to-three times a week.
“I’ll say it again: communication is the key,” he concluded.
For more information on LaFlair and the job he is doing, visit camillusward2.com.
To reach Neil Benjamin Jr., email [email protected].
