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The Syracuse Common Council voted 5-4 to approve changes to its Citizen Review Board legislation Monday. The amendment would task the council with appointing CRB’s administrator, a power the board’s members currently hold.

The revision would increase the council’s oversight of CRB, a citizen-run watchdog organization created in 1993 dedicated to auditing the Syracuse Police Department. Under the amendment, the council will choose CRB’s administrator from three of the board’s recommended candidates and the city clerk will oversee the board staff — including the selected administrator, according to the draft Common Council agenda.

Several councilors who voted in favor of the changes, including at-large member Chol Majok, characterized the CRB’s operations since its inception as “dysfunctional.”

“(CRB) is not going the way it’s supposed to,” Majok said. “As a council, we have the responsibility that it goes the way it is intended so that it can continue to serve the citizens as it should.”

Since the beginning of 2023, the board has failed to hit its six-person attendance quorum at five out of 16 monthly meetings — which prevents it from discussing cases, syracuse.com reported. The board also did not release its annual report in 2023 and only held one misconduct hearing for the more than 80 officer treatment complaints it received, according to syracuse.com.

Patrona Jones-Rowser, 4th district councilor who voted in favor of the amendment, said she found that the CRB is not adhering “as adequate(ly) as it can” to its intended objectives and said the board must remain accountable to its goals.

“This (amendment) is solely for oversight and accountability for the council, for the board and for the administrator,” Jones-Rowser said. “This is not a hostile takeover, as some would perceive.”

Several community leaders — including Barrie Gewanter, a former CRB member and former executive director of the central New York chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union — have expressed their opposition to the amendment. Gewanter, along with the four dissenting members of the council, said she feared the amendment would deplete the public’s trust in the independence of CRB.

“The CRBs are supposed to have a certain amount of independence, and that’s why the law was written,” Gewanter said. “Putting this body under the council by the council appointing the administrator can serve to politicize the entire CRB.”

While Gewanter acknowledges the CRB is suffering from issues with its operations, she said she believes the decision to increase the Common Council’s oversight of the board will not “remedy” these issues. Gewanter characterized CRB as under-resourced — a council and mayor-appointed seat has remained vacant and a few are serving consecutive terms.

The amendment also expands the city clerk’s power beyond what’s listed in the Syracuse city charter, which does not mention a community police oversight agency, Gewanter said.

Gewanter said she believes the council should have held several public hearings before introducing and approving an amendment to CRB legislation as the board aims to establish an “open citizen-controlled process,” according to its website.

Common Councilor At-Large Rita Paniagua and 3rd District Councilor Corey Williams, who voted against the amendment, cited the public’s perspective on CRB as an institution to rationalize their dissent. Though she acknowledged CRB’s operations require improvements, Paniagua said she would not support the legislation without “citizens’ participation” in the process.

Since the council has approved the amendment, Mayor Ben Walsh will need to approve the legislation for it to go into effect. If Walsh vetoes the changes, the council can overrule his decision with the approval of at least six councilors. The mayor plans to hold a “required public hearing” about the legislation on May 1, syracuse.com reported.

Other business:

• The council approved an amendment to extend its contract with the Urban Jobs Taskforce to continue the Interstate I-81 Community Engagement and Planning program, which aims to promote workforce development processes to “maximize local hiring” for I-81 construction projects. The contract has been extended to Dec. 31, 2025.
• The council approved funding for several initiatives associated with the New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee for the 2025 Highway Traffic Safety Program, including $200,000 toward hiring a highway safety coordinator and $46,000 toward promoting safe driving practices.
• The council approved an agreement with Jenoptik North America, an industrial optical technology business, to provide traffic safety services within school zones over a five-year period.
• The council approved the sale of 30 properties on behalf of the city of Syracuse to the Greater Syracuse Land Bank.
• The council will hold a public hearing for the Syracuse Department of Public Works’ proposed $4.5 million continuation of the Municipal Sidewalk Program, which was initiated in 2021, for the 2024-25 city budget. The hearing will occur Monday, May 6 at 1 p.m.

News Editor Kendall Luther contributed reporting to this article.

Published on April 23, 2024 at 12:35 am

Contact Julia: jmboehni@syr.edu