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3 days ago | 
centralcurrent.org | Eddie Velazquez |Patrick McCarthy |Patrick Mccarthy
Section 8 is the latest federal program to find itself in the Trump administration’s crosshairs. The president will soon submit his budget proposal to Congress. The New York Times has reported that his budget is likely to include substantial proposed cuts to the country’s housing voucher program, widely known as Section 8. National advocates, local advocates and elected leaders believe any cuts to the Section 8 program could be disastrous for Syracuse.
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2 months ago | 
centralcurrent.org | Chris Libonati |Patrick McCarthy |Patrick Mccarthy
Mayor Ben Walsh called for change from Syracuse Housing Authority leadership following a Thursday meeting of the SHA’s Board of Commissioners. While Walsh was adamant Executive Director Bill Simmons’ leadership needed to be reviewed, he stopped short of calling on SHA’s board to get rid of Simmons. That callout may have fallen on unhearing ears. When reporters told Simmons that Walsh said he had no confidence in SHA’s leadership, Simmons dismissed the comment.
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2 months ago | 
centralcurrent.org | Eddie Velazquez |Patrick McCarthy |Patrick Mccarthy
The Syracuse Common Council voted Monday to withdraw a local law that would enact “good cause” eviction protections for city tenants. For some councilors, Monday’s meeting casts heavy doubts on the future of tenants protections. Patrona Jones-Rowser, a Democrat who chairs the council’s committee on housing and homelessness, said the local law would be pulled for “further investigation.” Councilors voted 5-4 in favor of withdrawing the measure.
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Jan 17, 2025 | 
centralcurrent.org | Patrick McCarthy |Patrick Mccarthy
Understanding just how much federal funding flows into Syracuse’s coffers will be critical in the coming years, Syracuse Auditor Alex Marion wrote in a report released Thursday.
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Jan 16, 2025 | 
centralcurrent.org | Patrick McCarthy |Patrick Mccarthy
Mayor Ben Walsh used his last State of the City address to tout wins in infrastructure, housing and neighborhood development while charting the steps his administration has taken toward fiscal sustainability. The mayor’s call for achieving fiscal sustainability comes as Walsh’s administration is set to draft a budget for the next fiscal year that is expected to carry a $20 million structural deficit.
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Jan 16, 2025 | 
centralcurrent.org | Patrick McCarthy |Patrick Mccarthy
Tim Rudd, the city’s budget director and a lifelong Democrat, will leave his post as Mayor Ben Walsh’s budget director to run for mayor as a Republican. Rudd has also submitted his resignation from his post as budget director, effective March 18. His decision to run for mayor means Rudd will face one of his current bosses, Democrat and Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens. Rudd previously donated $1,000 to Owens’ campaign, which he had also worked on.
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Jan 13, 2025 | 
centralcurrent.org | Patrick McCarthy |Patrick Mccarthy
The Syracuse Common Council will bring forward a vote on whether to have a third party audit of the city’s Bureau of Information Technology following delays to the city’s payroll modernization plan. Councilors who are part of the Council’s Finance, Taxation, and Assessment Committee plan to have a “comprehensive” audit of the Bureau of IT, said Councilor Corey Williams.
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Jan 13, 2025 | 
centralcurrent.org | Patrick McCarthy |Patrick Mccarthy
When Mosab Abu Toha last read his poetry at the ArtRage gallery in 2022, he brought the copy of Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear from which he read back to Gaza to add to his personal library. When Abu Toha fled his house with his family on Oct. 12, 2023 – less than a week after Hamas’ deadly attack and Israel’s subsequent bombing and invasion of the entire Gaza Strip – he brought that copy with him.
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Jan 10, 2025 | 
centralcurrent.org | Patrick McCarthy |Patrick Mccarthy
Micron has not engaged in “substantive negotiations” about employees who work at the planned Clay facility being unionized despite promising to do so, according to Carl Kennebrew, the president of IUE-CWA. Last April, memory chipmaker Micron Technology promised the Communications Workers of America labor union that it would meet to discuss a labor peace agreement for the company’s future semiconductor facility in Clay. Negotiations have largely not happened since then, Kennebrew said.
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Dec 6, 2024 | 
centralcurrent.org | Patrick McCarthy |Patrick Mccarthy
Syracuse’s surveillance technology oversight group will review new drone technology the Syracuse Police Department planned to purchase. The city reversed its decision on the review after initially saying the group did not need to review the drones. City officials made the change after Central Current reported the city planned to bypass its own surveillance technology review process to purchase the drones.
