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Mayor’s office budget review highlights staffing shifts, SURA contracting questions
Summary
City officials reviewed the mayor’s office budget, noting few line-item changes but several title adjustments, the transfer of one confidential aide position out of the mayor’s budget, unresolved questions about SURA-funded positions in contracted services, and a reduced travel and training allocation.
Cory Driscoll, chief of staff to the mayor, told the council the Office of the Mayor’s budget shows “not a lot of change” from last year but flagged higher projections driven largely by payouts of accrued paid time off for departing staff.
Driscoll walked the council through staffing and title adjustments in the mayor’s office, naming Stephanie Pascal as chief strategy officer, Eric Enis as chief development officer, and Kevin Henry as chief operating officer. He said the city reduced the mayor’s office headcount by one after a confidential aide position moved off the mayor’s budget.
Driscoll also suggested the city consider eliminating the Office of Administration next year and folding those functions into the mayor’s office, calling the current split “an odd setup” that is functionally redundant.
Councilors pressed staff about a contracted-services line (54170) identified in the mayor’s budget that covers SURA positions and their fringe benefits. Driscoll said the listed SURA positions should appear in the SURA budget and agreed to follow up with the budget team to explain why the proposed amount differs from actual spending last year. A councilor asked why the proposed figure is lower than last year’s actuals; staff did not resolve the discrepancy during the hearing.
The council also discussed the mayor’s salary. Driscoll said the mayor’s pay is fixed by ordinance and therefore has remained flat; councilors compared Syracuse’s salary to those in nearby cities such as Rochester and Buffalo and asked staff to look into how other municipalities structure deputy or chief executive support.
A councilor noted travel and training funding (line 160 on page 64) dropping from roughly $13,000 actual spending to an adopted $8,200 proposed in the coming budget. Driscoll said lower travel in the last year of the administration likely drove the reduced projection and that staff would manage with the adopted amount.
When a councilor raised permitting for entertainment venues, Driscoll said those permitting costs appear in the Neighborhood and Business Development (NBD) budget and mentioned coordinating with the director of nightlife to streamline processes. The hearing concluded after a motion to adjourn was moved and seconded; the transcript records no formal roll-call vote.
The council requested follow-up from budget staff on the contracted-services/SURA accounting and the specific makeup of fringe costs; no ordinances, resolutions, or final budget votes were taken during this session.
