County Executive Jason Garnar, ’99, is the Democratic candidate for Broome County Executive. Prior to being elected in 2016, Garnar served five consecutive terms as a Broome County legislator.
1. What do you see as the biggest concerns of people in Broome County? How do you propose to address those concerns?
“Jobs are a big priority — Filling the open jobs in Broome County and getting people back to work. Since I took office in 2017, the unemployment rate in Broome County is the lowest it has been in 17 years with big economic development projects, such as the Dick’s Sporting Goods Distribution Center in Conklin and the Binghamton University [School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences] and [Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences] in Johnson City. I have also implemented a number of new cutting-edge job programs and opened a brand new workforce development center. During this COVID-19 pandemic, my highest priority has been the health and safety of this community. We have a dedicated team of employees from health, emergency services, social services and more who are working tirelessly to protect our community as we prepared for and now respond to the recent [COVID-19] outbreak. Additionally, I continue to make investments each year to work to improve our housing in Broome County and bring new, affordable housing projects to our area and prioritize fixing our infrastructure, our roads and bridges, throughout the county — from our urban core area to our rural areas in eastern, northern and western Broome County.”
2. Given the issues Broome County has faced with COVID-19, how do you plan to combat the issue?
“Since March, the County has been the lead agency in response to COVID-19 in Broome County with our Office of Emergency Services and Broome County Health Department. We continue to work through this pandemic every single day supporting our hospitals, schools, businesses, municipalities and residents. Our team works hand in hand to contact trace and complete case investigation, follow state directives and quickly adapt in an ever-changing pandemic. Public health is our top priority as we fight COVID-19 and work to stop the spread and keep our community safe.”
3. What should be prioritized in the county budget?
“I am committed to maintaining all of the many critical services Broome County provides to taxpayers despite the budget shortfalls this year due to COVID-19. The goal is to cut taxes and maintain those services and programs that people come to expect and depend on every year. When I took office, my top priority was to improve Broome County’s finances. Our last three budgets have prepared us for this pandemic with my administration working with the [Broome County] Legislature. We built up our fund balance, growing it from $250,000 to $15 million. That’s a huge safety net to help us deal with the issues we now have before us.”
4. How do you plan on addressing a lack of diversity in appointed county positions?
“It is extremely important to me to have a county workforce that is reflective of the community that we live in. We can always work harder to continue to improve and diversify our staff to better serve the county. I plan to continue our community outreach programs and build upon them to connect with our Broome County residents.”
5. How will you communicate with the people in Broome County?
“The same way I have been communicating with the people of Broome County over the past four years. I will continue to be open and transparent with our residents about what is happening in our community. I will continue to share messages on social media, through Twitter, [and] Facebook as well as through my live COVID-19 updates. I have open office hours every week, and I have been on campus at [BU] a number of times to talk to students and get their input.”
6. Why should students and young people across Broome County vote for you?
“As a proud [alumnus] of [BU], the students have a special place in my heart. I want everyone to have a great experience here during their time at [BU], and I want them to feel included in what we do in Broome County government. In my first year, I created a student board of advisers made up of students from [BU] to talk to me about issues they feel are important. We also want to invest in our students and recently created a program that provides grant funding to college students who start small businesses in Broome County. I will keep working to make sure that students are welcomed and represented here in our community.”