The two frontrunners in Syracuse’s mayoral race clashed Tuesday night after Democrat Juanita Perez Williams hinted that Independent candidate Ben Walsh’s campaign has amassed more than $360,000 in donations thanks in part to his relationship with city real estate developers.

Perez Williams and Walsh, both former city of Syracuse employees, argued over campaign contributions at the second general election debate of the year, primarily moderated by “Capital Tonight” host Liz Benjamin.

A poll published Tuesday by Syracuse.com shows Perez Williams only leads Walsh by 7 percentage points. Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate, and Laura Lavine, a Republican, trailed both front-runners, polling in the single digits.

Lavine instigated the confrontation between Perez Williams and Walsh Tuesday night. The Republican candidate said she would call for ethics reform if elected, banning “pay-to-play” politics, a term for businesses that seek government contracts while also contributing money to officials’ campaigns.

“This idea of pay-to-play is just silly. I’m proud of the work I did at City Hall. I’m proud of the support I provided to developers and small businesses alike,” said Walsh, immediately after Lavine’s comment.

Walsh previously served as deputy commissioner of the Department of Neighborhood and Business Development. Walsh said about 10 percent of contributions made to his campaign has come from developers. Perez Williams took issue with that estimation.

The Democrat candidate said “it’s more like 70 percent,” if considering family members, “associates” and LLCs connected to developers who have all donated to Walsh’s campaign, which had amassed more than $360,000 in donations as of Tuesday.

“I want the city of Syracuse to be open to business, too. But we’re going to do it in a way that’s appropriate and make sure we’re not just giving the store away,” Perez Williams said. She said her administration would focus on small businesses “who do not give big donations.”

Walsh fired back.

“It’s disingenuous … when my opponents ask those very same developers and businesses for donations and don’t receive them,” he said. “I received their support because I provided good service as a public servant.”

The former deputy commissioner of the Department of Neighborhood and Business Development, defending himself, said he revised the uniform tax exemption policy for the first time in more than a decade to “hold developers to a high standard.”

Perez Williams’ campaign had raised just under $180,000 in donations as of Tuesday. Lavine’s campaign had raised about $110,000 in contributions. Howie Hawkins jumped into the argument, saying as a Green Party candidate he does not take contributions from for-profit entities due to the pay-to-play issue.

A political committee registered with the state Board of Elections that’s associated with Hawkins, Vote Green Syracuse, has raised about $8,000 in donations. It’s unclear how much of that $8,000 has gone directly to Hawkins’ campaign, though.

Real estate development again became a focus of the debate as candidates discussed how they might address the issue of poverty in Syracuse. In 2016, 32.1 percent of Syracuse residents lived below the poverty line, up from 31 percent in 2015, United States Census data shows.

One think tank, The Century Foundation, found in its 2015 “Architecture of Segregation” report the city has the most concentrated minority poverty in the U.S. among blacks and Hispanics. Census tracts noted in the report are adjacent Interstate 81, just a few blocks away from Syracuse University property.

Walsh said he would encourage more mixed-use development in the city to help address poverty. Mixed-use development includes both residential and commercial projects. An example of mixed-use development, on the Hill, is the new Marshall student housing project off South Crouse Avenue.

Implementing a mortgage buydown program would also be a priority, Walsh said, to encourage more homeownership. A mortgage buydown program is a financing technique where a buyer attempts to obtain a lower interest rate for the first few years of a mortgage.

“I would double down on the city’s commitment to incorporating affordable housing units into every market rate project that requests assistance from the city,” he added.

Perez Williams, when asked about alleviating the poverty in Syracuse, said she would improve the city’s relationship with the Department of Labor. Her administration would also focus on supporting small businesses, she said.

Published on October 10, 2017 at 11:33 pm

Contact Sam: sfogozal@syr.edu | @SamOgozalek