Syracuse, N.Y. – Mayor Stephanie Miner has left the Syracuse area at least 23 times since last June, when she was appointed co-chair of the New York State Democratic Committee, according to her calendar.
Miner’s opponents have called her a part-time mayor and made an issue of one taxpayer-funded business trip to New York City that strayed into after-hours politics.
Miner, who is running for re-election, supplied a copy of her official business calendar and expense records in response to a Freedom of Information request from The Post-Standard and Syracuse.com.
You can see the calendar in the box below.
It is the mayor’s official schedule of public duties related to her work as mayor, spokesman Alexander Marion said.
With some exceptions, it does not list private, family or political events. Sometimes, political appointments are listed “private.” Other times, they do not appear at all on the public schedule.
Miner’s travel became a campaign issue because of this event: On June 4, Miner drove to a meeting in New York City of the New York Works Task Force, an initiative started by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to create a coordinated statewide infrastructure improvement plan.
The next day, she had an interview at Bloomberg News, then went to Yonkers to meet with Mayor Mike Spano.
What wasn’t on her calendar is this event: At 8 p.m. June 4, 2012, she went to a fundraiser for President Barack Obama at New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel. She had her picture taken with Obama and former President Bill Clinton.
The mayor stayed at the Helmsley, on Park Avenue, and charged taxpayers $504 for the hotel, gas and parking.
In response to critics, the mayor said she had to stay overnight in New York whether or not she attended the fundraiser. If she attends political events, she said, they generally happen after business hours or on weekends. Political travel is paid for by her campaign committee or political action committee, Promise PAC, she said.
Marc Shaw, senior vice chancellor of City University of New York, former Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch and Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner walk from City Hall to The Post-Standard for an editorial board meeting in April 2012.
Other out-of-town trips on the mayor’s calendar include:
- 12 trips to New York City to meet with adviser and former Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch, the New York Times, Bloomberg News, bond rating agencies, private meetings and the recent New York Times Energy for Tomorrow Conference. New York trips cost a total $3,190 over one year.
- Five trips to Albany for Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State address and other meetings and press interviews. They included one overnight, at a cost of $261, records show.
- A March trip to Rhode Island for the Symposium for Distressed Cities at a cost of $2,100.
- A June trip to Philadelphia for the State Budget Crisis Task Force. Airfare cost $565.
There was at least one city-related trip paid for by an outside group.
The U.S. Green Building Council covered the mayor’s expenses for a trip to San Francisco last November. The cost was not immediately available Friday. Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney also attended and the two accepted an award. At the time, The Post-Standard reported the mayor flew out two days early at her own expense. Her husband, John F.X. Mannion accompanied her and paid his own way, aides said.
The mayor’s calendar also shows some days blocked off for vacation and personal trips.
In March, she accompanied the Syracuse University men’s basketball team to the Final Four in Atlanta at her own expense.
The mayor also paid her own way to the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, Marion said.
Mayor Miner Calendar 2012-2013
Contact Michelle Breidenbach at (315) 470-3186, mbreidenbach@syracuse.com or follow on Twitter @mbreidenbach.
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