Syracuse City staff clarify mayor’s office org chart, contracted positions and funding during budget briefing

City staff presented the mayor’s office budget and clarified how several senior roles and contracted positions are organized and funded.

At a staff briefing, presenters reviewed an organizational chart that shows the mayor and direct reports including the deputy mayor (listed in the budget as chief of staff), the chief policy officer (listed as director of mayoral initiatives), the executive assistant to the mayor (listed in the budget as chief operating officer), the senior executive secretary, the director of strategic initiatives (listed in the budget as director of intergovernmental affairs), an intergovernmental affairs coordinator, the I‑81 project director and the smart city manager. City staff said several of those positions are paid through the city’s SURA payroll and therefore appear under contracted services rather than in the mayor’s direct personnel lines.

The presentation also clarified that the chief administrative officer has a separate budget from the mayor’s office (listed on pages 67–69 of the budget packet cited during the briefing). Staff said the constituent relations coordinator — listed in the budget as a confidential aide — reports to the chief operating officer.

Why it matters: Several of the roles discussed support cross‑department coordination on major infrastructure and technology efforts including the I‑81 project and the city’s street‑lighting and sensor programs. How those positions are budgeted and paid affects where salary and benefit costs appear in the municipal budget and which hearings will review them.

Details from the briefing

- Funding and payroll: Staff said the I‑81 project is a state project in scope but that the state does not contribute salary funds for the city’s I‑81 project director. Instead, the city’s I‑81 project director, the smart city manager and the intergovernmental affairs coordinator are paid via the SURA contracted‑services payroll; SURA’s billing covers both salaries and benefits, staff said. Staff offered to provide counselors a breakdown of the salaries for each position and the SURA list at the upcoming SURA budget hearing.

- Titles and roster clarifications: Staff said the Director of Strategic Initiatives (Jen Tift) is listed in the budget as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, and the Director of Mayoral Initiatives is the chief policy officer (Greg Lowe). The intergovernmental affairs coordinator in the mayor’s office was identified by first name as Josephine; the constituent relations coordinator was identified as Tory Townsend. Staff said they will send a revised org chart that maps budget titles to working titles and includes names.

- Vacancies and transitions: The smart city manager position is currently vacant; staff said Vinny (Vinnie) Scipione previously held that role before moving to Digital Services. The smart city manager’s work includes oversight of street‑lighting infrastructure and city sensors.

- Pay ranges and compensation: Councillors asked about wide pay ranges shown in the budget lines. Staff said pay ranges reflect civil service classifications and results from a recent compensation study used to set ranges; staff characterized current salaries as “somewhere right in the middle” of the established ranges and said they can provide more detail.

Follow‑up and next steps

Staff committed to providing a revised organizational chart with names and a department breakdown, a salary breakdown for the SURA‑paid positions, and the full SURA list at the SURA budget hearing scheduled next week. There were no formal votes or policy actions on the item during the briefing.

Speakers who participated in the briefing included city staff presenting the mayor’s office budget and multiple councillors who asked questions; staff responses and commitments to follow up were recorded during the session.