Taking Taxpayers for a Ride

Two-term Syracuse Mayor and former labor attorney Stephanie Miner has spent her career championing the rights of the middle class, workers and children. Under her leadership, the city of Syracuse experienced a record in economic development, successfully initiated a local labor policy that incentivized hiring local Syracuse residents, completed long-overdue upgrades to the Woodland Reservoir, and facilitated public-private partnerships to accelerate the use of technology in government.

The first woman ever elected to lead one of New York’s “Big 5” cities, Mayor Miner faced multiple budget crises that threatened the city of Syracuse as a result of the 2008 recession. Her achievements in this area allowed her to take a leading role in the discussion of municipal finance across New York State and she was reelected as Mayor in 2013 with over 68% of the vote. She also served as Co-Chair of the New York State Democratic Committee from 2012-2014.

During her tenure, Mayor Miner mandated the creation of the Greater Syracuse Property Development Corporation; established the first-ever Mayor’s Office of Innovation, using a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies, that found solutions to the infrastructure needs of Syracuse; led the development of the Syracuse Regional Airport Authority; and recruited IBM to help the city understand, analyze and prevent increases in vacant residential properties, thereby reversing neighborhood decline.

Previously, Miner served two terms as Syracuse Common Councilor-at-Large from 2001-2009. During this time she demonstrated her commitment to education by successfully leading efforts to pass legislation to initiate funding to Say Yes to Education, a program which offers support services for Syracuse City School District students and free or reduced college tuition to students who graduate from City high schools. Prior to that, Miner spent ten years as a labor attorney with the firm of Blitman & King, representing unions and employees. She served as Central New York Regional Representative for Governor Mario Cuomo in 1994 and Upstate Coordinator for Geraldine Ferraro’s 1992 U.S. Senate campaign.

Miner is a member of the inaugural Governing Institute’s Women in Government Leadership Program and has received the Aspen Institute’s Rodel Fellowship for “Outstanding leadership in American Politics”, The US Green Building Council’s 2012 Global Leadership award and was lauded by the Northeast Women in Public Finance as a “trailblazer in public finance”. Mayor Miner was most recently a visiting professor at New York University’s Wagner School of Public Policy.

Miner graduated Magna Cum Laude from Syracuse University and received a J.D. from SUNY Buffalo. She lives in the City of Syracuse with her husband John F.X. (“Jack”) Mannion. While a devout believer in technological innovation, she still has fond memories of her first campaign, sitting at her grandmother’s kitchen table stuffing envelopes.