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Jimmy Monto has spent most of his life in Eastwood, a neighborhood defined by Interstate 690 and Syracuse’s northern edge. His name will now be on the ballot to serve the area.

“The idea that I get to represent my neighborhood and I get to represent these constituents and take their phone calls and try to help them is an honor for me,” he said. “I never even questioned it.”

The common council appointed Monto to replace Councilor Joe Driscoll when he joined Mayor Ben Walsh’s I-81 team, making the Syracuse native the city’s first LGBTQ common councilor. He is now running to keep his position as a councilor to serve for his first full term.

“My roots are deep in this community. I have volunteered my time inside of this district for a very long time,” Monto said. “If I was ever going to run for office, the office that I wanted was the common councilor for my neighborhood.”

Patrick Hogan, one of the councilors who voted to have Monto on the council, said his good citizenship translates into his performance as a councilor.

Monto currently runs the Eastwood Neighborhood Association, and is the vice president of development for CNY Pride as well as the secretary of the Onondaga Democratic Committee. He is also the chairman for Tomorrow’s Neighborhoods Today, an organization that connects the eight sectors of Syracuse to find solutions for city-wide issues.

“He has been a civilian, not an elected official, for years,” Hogan said. “Somebody who puts himself out there on a volunteer basis is the type of guy I think would be a good city councilor — concerned with the issues that have affected the daily activities of any city laborer.”

Monto said he doesn’t like to think of his sexuality as the forefront of his political platform. He’s proud to be the first openly queer person to serve on the council, but said its shocking that he’s the first.

“I’ve never seen myself as marginalized overall, because I have been with the same person for 21 years, and we’ve lived a pretty normal life fighting the fight,” he said. “(The councilors who voted for me) made history that day, and then it’s up to me to make history this Tuesday.”

If elected, Monto said he has a responsibility to set an example for younger members of the LGBTQ community, even if his role doesn’t have a national impact.

“I bear the responsibility of making sure that kids in the situation of trying to come out or trying to figure out where their life direction goes, understand that everything can be okay, that you can be successful as a person of the LGBTQ community,” Monto said.

Monto said the political environment for people who identify as LGBTQ is far from perfect, especially after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The LGBTQ community will always be “on the chopping block,” he said.

Hogan said he appreciates the amount of diversity Monto brings to overall council meetings.

“You can’t get a more diverse city council,” he said. “It’s been like that for a while, but this particular council that I’m serving on touches all the bases, and everybody pulls together for the communities.”

Monto’s opponent, Republican Woody Carroll, has used Monto’s past as one of his prime talking points, including when he allegedly falsified payroll documents as a human resource officer in the Syracuse City School District and failed to pay state taxes for three years.

Monto pleaded guilty to one account of second degree falsifying business records and did not serve any jail time. Though, Monto said he isn’t focused on the event.

“If we’re going to decide that a misdemeanor — a low level misdemeanor — (can) knock someone out of contention for moving on with their life, then we better make sure that we think that through,” he said. “There are a lot of 18- and 19-year-old kids with low level convictions for something that deserves a second chance and a third chance and a fourth chance.”

Monto said his priority is to ensure everyone in Syracuse has access to equal opportunities, specifically in light of the Micron investment.

“The city is going to be faced with making decisions around housing and around transportation and around safety and crime and quality life issues,” Monto said. “That’s what the council needs to be focused on.”

Published on November 8, 2022 at 1:52 am