Overview

Former Syracuse mayor Stephanie Miner offers a candid insider look at her trailblazing time in elected office, the pressures and pitfalls of city and state politics, and the true potential of local government.Elected the first woman of major city in New York State, Stephanie Miner gives readers an inside look at the complexity of public policy and how the political system favors Goliath-like insiders who amass power by giving easy answers over the David-like reformers who attempt to challenge the status quo. Madam Mayor is the story of what happens when personal values about honesty and integrity confront the hard reality of money and power. More than a political memoir of a pathbreaking career, Miner’s book is also a front-row seat to the inner workings of local elections, mayoral politics, and municipal policymaking. Miner dives deep into the key policy areas that shaped her time as mayor of Syracuse and continue to affect most local politicians across the country: education, police, infrastructure, pensions, and economic development. Among other things, she writes frankly about the ugly injustices pervading the public education system, the pressure to not ask questions about fiscal policy, the challenges of making necessary infrastructure repairs that are not as sexy as splashy building projects, and the political turmoil that came with writing a New York Times op-ed criticizing the governor. Miner shows how difficult it is to navigate such complex matters when there are so many vested interests seeking to sway those in power toward one side or another. Miner’s story sheds light on the myriad tensions between municipal and state politics, the challenges of achieving meaningful change at the local level, and the systemic obstacles to creating political change—as illustrated in her ill-fated bid to challenge the political Goliath: Governor Andrew Cuomo. If Stephanie Miner’s illuminating stories of her time as Madam Mayor reveal anything, it is that, when supported and allowed to be creative, local governments exist to solve problems.

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9780700638284

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Reviews

"""Stephanie Miner understands that local leadership is about solving problems, not playing partisan politics. Her memoir offers a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges mayors face in taking on the toughest issues facing the country--and the progress that can be made with pragmatic and fearless leadership.""--Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and Bloomberg L.P. and 108th mayor of New York City ""I wish Stephanie Miner were mayor of Syracuse when I lived there as a graduate student. In vivid words, the first female mayor of a major New York State city takes readers inside government and inside the sometimes smarmy world of politics. She leaves us with a memorable portrait of a brave woman battling to save both her city and her lofty ideals. She succeeded as mayor despite battling female stereotypes: she's brittle, she's on edge, she's temperamental. When you finish her riveting book, you also realize she did something rare in politics: she succeeded as a human being.""--Ken Auletta, columnist of the Annals of Communications for The New Yorker and author of Hollywood Ending: Harvey Weinstein and the Culture of Silence ""Most political memoirs focus on the personal trials of running and serving. But Stephanie Miner's courageous book also includes real policy analysis and a wide-ranging treatment of the challenges facing cities and the complex interactions between different levels of government in our federal system. At times painfully honest, it should be of interest to anyone who wants to better understand urban and state politics, political ethics, corruption, public finance, and campaigns. Oh, and Andrew Cuomo too.""--Grant Reeher, author of First Person Political: Legislative Life and the Meaning of Public Service ""Stephanie Miner turns the seemingly mundane aspects of local governance into a thrilling tale of intrigue as she bucked the status quo in the hurly burly, seedy world of New York politics. Rewarded with vindictiveness, pettiness, and deceit by the political status quo, Madame Mayor is a startling and beautiful portrayal of self-discovery by a pioneering female focused on doing the right thing with honesty and integrity amidst the contact sport of local and state politics.""--Greg Fischer, Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky 2011-2022 and 75th President of the United States Conference of Mayors ""Stephanie Miner's book is an illuminating tale of the promise, challenges, and idealism mayors face when running a city. With passion and humor, Miner shows how the governmental system is both constructive and destructive, often at the same time. It's a story of confronting the status quo with a grinding commitment to solving problems for people. Readers interested in how things do--and do not--work in government will be fascinated.""--Michael A. Nutter, former mayor of Philadelphia, PA ""Madam Mayor gives readers a front-row seat at the unfathomable life of a big-city mayor trying to fix everything from pensions, to policing, to bursting water pipes, to corruption at the highest levels of government. Miner takes us on a wild ride, filled with humor, policy, politics, and deeply personal emotion. It will both destroy and restore your faith in American politics.""--Libby Schaaf, 50th Mayor of Oakland, CA"

Author Information

Stephanie Miner was the fifty-third mayor of the City of Syracuse (2010–2017) and a candidate for New York State governor in 2018. She is now the Charles Evans Hughes Visiting Chair of Government and Jurisprudence in the Department of Political Science at Colgate University, an advisor to the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, and a director for the Volcker Alliance.

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