Rebecca Hyde of Cortland confesses that with eight weeks to go until she steps into a voting booth, she’s been paying closer attention to the presidential race than more-local races. But on Saturday, she was in Homer to see Congressional nominee John Mannion make his pitch for her vote.
“I know the down-ballot candidates are important; that’s why I’m here,” said Hyde, noting that she’s a member of the Cortland County Democratic Committee.
Mannion faces incumbent Rep. Brandon Williams (R-Sennett), who was elected in 2022. Williams succeeded John Katko of Syracuse in a district that encompassed Onondaga, Madison and Oneida counties. But since then, Congressional districts in New York were overturned and the new district now includes much of northern Cortland County, including the city of Cortland, and part of Cayuga County.
The questions Mannion answered from about 45 people at the Center for the Arts of Homer ranged from economic development to child care, education to transportation and infrastructure. Gun control, mental health and addiction services and climate change all came up. Among the answers:
Micron and economic development: “I watched jobs go away in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s,” said Mannion, a Syracuse native. But the federal establishment of a semiconductor technology corridor and the announcement that Micron would come to Onondaga County, bringing 20,000 jobs on its own and 50,000 jobs in total over time might change that, he said.
“When we get a shovel in the ground, people will be a lot happier about it,” he said. “Micron’s not the beginning or the end. They are going to need — not only to supply Micron — an ecosystem of technology.”
“I saw my family leave, too,” said Darcy Sachs of Tully, but she was uncertain that the Micron growth would extend that far south. Mannion was sure.
“I do think we’re going to benefit in Cortland County and Broome County,” he said.
But to assure that, the region needs infrastructure development, he said after the event, adding he wants to sit on the . “We’re an older community. We need roads and bridges,” he said. “But we need cutting-edge infrastructure, too — broadband.”
Education and school safety: “What will you do as a Congressman to increase security?” asked Margaret Abbott, a special education teacher, three days after two students and two teachers were killed in a Georgia school shooting.
“It’s almost unimaginable we’re having these conversations about our schools,” said Mannion, a former biology teacher. “We had an assault weapons band at one point, and it proved effective over 10 years.”
He also noted he lobbied for a law to allow rifle hunting in two New York counties: Onondaga and Livingston. “I support the Second Amendment, but there’s a line.”
Day care: Mannion said he supported a $100 million state program to expand universal pre-kindergarten in upstate New York and increased the income level at which families are eligible for it. “It hasn’t solved the problem; it helped a little bit,” he said. “It’s not a simple fix.”
Mental health and addiction: The standards and regulations constantly change, said Lisa Hoeschle, executive director of Family and Children’s Counseling Services. “One minute, methadone can be prescribed by video conference — the next minute it can’t,” she said.
“The siloing is hurting people,” Mannion said, leading to ever-changing and sometimes contradictory policies. “We do need Medicare and Medicaid reform, and we need to stop the siloing. But the agencies dig in.”
“I did not give a great answer,” he added. “But I’m with you.”
