On childhood weekdays, Stephanie Miner played with toys, went to school and hung out with friends. On weekends, she spent time with politicians.

“My grandmother was very active in politics and as a kid I used to spend a lot of time with her,” Miner recalled.  “And that’s what I did when I was with her.  She did that with all my brothers and sisters.  But with me, it stuck.”

Her grandmother was Betty Cooney, a Syracuse political legend.  In 1976, six-year-old Miner went to a politician’s party with grandmother Cooney.  The party’s host: then-Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter.  Shortly after the party, Cooney got in the mail Carter’s trademark thank-you gift: a bag of peanuts. 

That, recalls Miner, was “really cool.”

Now, 33 years after Carter’s presidential party, Miner is running for mayor.  On Sept. 15, Miner won the Democratic primary with 4,040 votes.  She is running against Steve Kimatian, a veteran TV executive and political newcomer who is the Republican and Independence Party candidate; and Otis Jennings, longtime city parks director who lost the GOP primary to Kimatian and now is the Conservative Party nominee. 

If she wins, Miner will become the first female mayor of Syracuse.  The election is on Nov. 3. 

Miner has been an At-Large Common Councilor for eight years. In her campaign for mayor, Miner is running on a track record of supporting education, a detailed agenda of proposals and a reputation as an independent spirit who aggressively challenges even members of her own party.  She has been the city’s most outspoken critic of tax breaks for the Destiny USA mall expansion championed by Mayor Matt Driscoll, also a Democrat. Driscoll can’t run for a third term because of term limits.

If elected mayor, Miner has promised to focus on three areas: improving education, modernizing government, and invigorating neighborhoods. 

Miner was born in Syracuse and grew up in Cortland, N.Y.,  the oldest of five siblings — four girls and one boy.  She attended college in Syracuse, where she graduated from Syracuse University in 1992 with degrees in political science and newspaper journalism.  In 1999, Miner graduated from University at Buffalo Law School and joined Blitman & King, a labor law firm in Syracuse. 

After graduation from SU, she jumped into politics.  She moved to New Hampshire to work on the presidential campaign of Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Nebraska.  Next, she worked on the New York Senate campaign of Democrat Geraldine Ferraro.  In the 1990s, she worked as a Central New York regional representative for New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, who lost the 1994 gubernatorial election. 

In 2001, Miner ran for Syracuse Councilor-at-Large and won.  In 2005, she was re-elected but can’t run again for that office because of term limits.

Miner has not been shy about what she plans to do if elected mayor.  On her Web site, she lays out a 54-page agenda, “50 Point Plan for Syracuse.” In it, she outlines her goals for the city because, Miner said, people deserve details of her plan.  “They want to know what it is that you are thinking about,” she said, “and what you want to do.”

Miner has been vocal about her views.  In 2006, Miner led Common Council opposition to a tax break agreement for Destiny USA, a mega-mall and hotel expansion to Carousel Mall.  Miner led several councilors in a challenge to Mayor Driscoll’s payment-in-lieu-of-taxes-agreement.  Miner lost the protest and Destiny is still under construction with its tax breaks.

Miner’s sharp disagreement with Driscoll about Destiny led many critics in the city to describe her as a maverick.  But longtime friend and fellow Democrat Tom Buckel strongly disputes that portrait of Miner.  “The greatest urban legend is that she gets in the way and is anti-development,” Thomas Buckel, an Onondaga County legislator for District 7, said.  “That’s a perception that was developed because she was tough enough — had the guts enough — to oppose a bad deal.”

Mary Miner, Councilor Miner’s sister, also disputes the difficult-to-work-with image. “It’s hard for people to be told that you disagree with them,” Mary Miner said.

One of Miner’s critics is another Democrat, Bea Gonzalez, who soon ends her term as president of the Common Council.  Gonzalez had also considered a run for mayor but dropped out of the race because of family health problems.  In the Democratic primary, she threw her support to Joe Nicoletti.  Now she is distancing herself from Miner as the party’s nominee. 

In a story in The Post-Standard in October 2009, Gonzalez sharply criticized Miner.  Miner does not always treat people with dignity and respect, Gonzalez said.  “I’ve seen how she behaves in public and in private, and I’m concerned,” Gonzalez told the newspaper.  “Am I going to actively support someone I have limited confidence in? No.”

In response to Gonzalez’s criticisms, Miner said, “I think it says much more about her than it says about me.  I was endorsed during the primary by the vast majority of my colleagues who have worked with me in the past eight years on the Common Council.”

Despite Miner’s critics, those close to her consider her a supportive friend and mentor.  One of them is Tracy Driscoll, who has known Miner for more than a decade.  They live in the same neighborhood and their parents are family friends. For years, Miner has acted like an adviser to her.  Shel even followed Miner’s advice to leave a job, Driscoll recalled.  “She told me, ‘You’re not officially a grown-up until you quit your first job,” said Driscoll.
 
Patrick Hogan, Onondaga County 2nd District Councilor, has also depended on Miner on several occasions for professional advice.  “She’s a person who I’ve relied on to solve some issues that might be a little too vexing for me, especially when it comes to legal matters that affect the quality of life in the city of Syracuse,” Hogan said.  “I look on Stephanie as probably one of the sharpest people I’ve ever dealt with in public life.”

Here’s a look at some of Miner’s main campaign proposals:

Strengthen Education
Miner describes her top priority as education.  Syracuse has a graduation rate of 51 percent, according to state statistics.  She calls that “unacceptable.”  Part of the solution, she said, is the “Say Yes to Education” program. 

The program gives city high school graduates free college tuition to participating colleges if the students  have been in the school district for at least three years.   Miner calls for expanding the program to younger students to keep them in city schools.

Miner’s policy director, Andy Maxwell, says a special concern is the flight of students from the city’s middle schools. “Many families are willing to send their children to Syracuse elementary school,” said Maxwell. “But when the time comes for their children to go to middle school they either opt to send their child to a private school or they move outside the city to send the child to a suburban school district.”

Modernize Government
Miner calls for technological and organizational changes in local government.  “We’ve had a revolution in technology that has not come to City Hall,” Miner said.  She would update phones and computers in the city administration, she said, and change City Hall’s “culture.” 

Policy director Maxwell described Miner’s plans this way:  “We need to employ a workforce that brings the expertise to bear that can tackle the challenges of poverty, crime, deteriorating housing, a struggling economy, and a shrinking tax base.” 

Updating the city’s infrastructure is also high on Miner’s priority list.  Roads and highways, an aging water system and street lights are some of the infrastructure Miner would modernize, Maxwell said. 

Invigorate Neighborhoods
Miner promises better neighborhood services,  including snow plowing, sanitation and public safety.  She also would expand city parks and recreation programs to “help bring even more people into our parks and into our city,” Maxwell, her policy director, said. 

After eight years of serving on the Common Council, Miner holds herself out as ready for the city’s biggest office. 

“I realized I really liked representing people in the city,” Miner said.  “I felt I could do the best work for them and the most change on a local level.  And that’s what I really enjoy.”

(Michelle San Miguel is a senior dual major in broadcast journalism and international relations.)

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