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Sharon Owens wasn’t born in Syracuse. Instead, she found her roots here while studying at Syracuse University. Now, almost 40 years later, she is running to be the city’s first Black mayor.

Owens grew up in Geneva, New York, as the oldest of three siblings, which she said taught her responsibility at a young age. The current deputy mayor committed to SU in 1981 to run track and study economics.

After graduating from SU, Owens said she quickly realized she wanted to spend her career serving the neighborhoods and people of Syracuse, but wasn’t sure how to enter public service. The path to politics felt less like a choice and more like the next step, she said, as she has never viewed herself as a traditional politician.

“I realized that the opportunity to work for the city and work for the government can help me impact lives on a larger scale,” Owens said. “That moment before I ever entered the government helped me make the decision to enter government.”

Amid her mayoral campaign, Owens continues to serve as Mayor Ben Walsh’s deputy, where she oversees the city’s police and fire departments, as well as the city’s Department of Neighborhood and Business Development. Owens said a majority of her work is centered around people, and, though complex, has satisfied her desire to give back to the city.

Owens’ first jobs out of college were all for local nonprofits, including PEACE, Inc., Jubilee Homes and Home HeadQuarters. She stayed in the nonprofit sector for over 30 years. While working for Home HeadQuarters, she met Syracuse’s former mayor, Stephanie Minor, who asked Owens to be the city’s deputy commissioner of neighborhood and business development.

After accepting the job, Owens met Walsh for the first time. He worked with her on combating the city’s housing issues, allowing the pair to get to know each other before his mayoral campaign in 2017. Walsh said Owens has a reputation for being “highly capable and competent,” which the mayor said she demonstrates through her work daily.

During his mayoral campaign, Walsh said Owens didn’t publically support him right away, but, as the campaign intensified, Owens was a “critical supporter” of Walsh. After working with her on the campaign, Walsh wanted her to work as his “right hand,” influencing almost all of Walsh’s decisions, he said.

“She’s just one of those people that has practiced what she’s preached, and her work speaks for itself,” Walsh said. “No matter where she is, she makes it better, and that was certainly the case when I brought her on as deputy mayor.”

As Owen said she faces a “challenging” candidacy under President Donald Trump’s administration, she affirmed that her campaign is focused on avoiding reactionary responses to developing federal policies.

With a mother dependent on Medicaid and a son with disabilities, Owens said she relates to the many Americans that fear for the future of federal healthcare and accessibility rights. She has pledged to do her part in protecting all Syracusans’ rights as mayor.

“It is going to be a very sober facing time for us, in how those policies affect us,” Owens said. “A lot of people don’t understand the delineation of local government is all of the safety nets that affect how people live.”

Owens also emphasized the vitality of protecting the CHIPS and Science Act as the Trump administration works to cut federal spending. In an address to Congress on March 6, the president called CHIPS “horrible,” but has not yet moved to undo it.

The legislation paved the way for Micron’s $100 billion investment in the Syracuse area with its incoming semiconductor fabrication plant. Former president Joe Biden’s administration awarded Micron a $6.1 billion CHIPS grant to support its investment in the region last April.

As Syracuse faces an ongoing lead water crisis, Owens said CHIPS is growing the region’s economy by helping local governments pay for lead pipe replacement and water purification as a part of its process to ensure the high water quality necessary for CHIP manufacturing.

When asked how she would address the lead crisis, Owens said as mayor, she would first work to replace lead pipes in private neighborhoods to ensure the safety of city residents using $20 million in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Collin Snyder | Staff Photographer

As a self described political outsider, Mayoral candidate Sharon Owens emphasizes her role as a public servant. She has over 30 years of experience working for nonprofits throughout the city.

“The bottom line is, water is bipartisan. Safe drinking water is bipartisan,” Owens said. “Our Corporation Counsel has assigned individuals to keep an eye on every single aspect of what those challenges may be.”

In regard to the I-81 Project, another one of Syracuse’s key ongoing projects, Owens said the next mayor has a responsibility to maintain progress. She expressed hope for its projected completion in 2028.

With her experience working in the 15th ward — the historically Black neighborhood most impacted by the overpass — Owens said she is the best candidate to lead city advocates in revitalizing the 40 acres of land that will be freed up by the project’s completion.

On Tuesday, SU’s College Democrats chapter formally endorsed the deputy mayor’s candidacy in a press release, citing trust in her perspective of handling issues such as affordable housing and economic opportunity, while also being able to combat the “chaos and dysfunction” from the federal government.

“When we look at the performance of the departments and the products of her work, some of the unprecedented investments in housing throughout the city, she’s again been at the forefront of that,” Walsh said. “It’s executive level experience, it’s her relationships, her track record and her heart… I’m hopeful that she’s successful, I believe that she will be.”

Bishop Dr. H. Bernard Alex, who also serves as the first Black member elected to the DeWitt town board, has known Owens since they were young. The two grew up attending church parishes that occasionally hosted joint services together, and throughout his life, Alex said he has worked with Owens as a pastor, colleague and friend.

Though Owens is a longtime friend, she holds everyone she works with to the highest standard, including herself, Alex said. He recalled that once, while working on HIV prevention for the New York Department of Health, he forgot to submit a funding application before its due date.

The next day, Owens called him into her office, holding him accountable for the mistake and explaining the impact his error would have for the people depending on the funding.

“She didn’t let friendship get in the way,” Alex said. “It was about the organization. It was always about the service delivery, and if you were not going to provide what was needed in your component and obligation of work, be it friend or foe, you had to get out of the way.”

Alex said this conversation helped him understand the importance of accountability — one of the most vital lessons for the rest of his career. Above all, Owens exemplifies this accountability, he said.

“When she becomes mayor, she’s gonna build a team of people that are gonna be held accountable and I say that confidently,” Alex said. “You are going to do the work.”

In Syracuse, mayors are limited to two four-year terms, though this isn’t the case in every city nationwide. Walsh said he’s seen some cities benefit from consistent leadership and some thrive under change.

But for Syracuse, Walsh said he believes consistency is key.

“While the deputy mayor and I are very different people, the continuity that she would bring to city government is something that we haven’t seen in the city in decades,” Walsh said. “We both acknowledge that there’s a lot that still needs to be done, but in my opinion, now is not the time to hit the reset button. It’s time to continue on the path that we’re on.”

Alex echoed Walsh’s sentiments, agreeing that Owens has the opportunity to establish continuity within the city.

“She knows about community engagement and what it takes for communities to become better,” Alex said. “Why would we want to get somebody that we have to bring up? She’s already there and can help us continue to go forward.”

Syracuse’s other mayoral candidates are Chol Majok, Pat Hogan, Thomas Babilon, Alfonso Davis and Jimmy Oliver. Voting for the mayoral primaries begins in June.

Published on April 2, 2025 at 1:35 am
Contact Arabella: akklonow@syr.edu