Svante L. Myrick
Svante L. Myrick was sworn into office in January 2012 and became, at 24, the City of Ithaca's youngest Mayor and first Mayor of color. Myrick was first elected to the Common Council at the age of 20 while still a junior at Cornell. He spoke as part of the President's Forum Series on March 7, 2013, and will return to campus to speak in the spring of 2016.
In his first year in office Myrick has racked up accomplishments large and small. He's changed the way people in Ithaca view public space by turning his parking space into a park, after years without them he's brought fireworks back to the City on the 4th of July and he's moved Ithaca into the 21st century by embracing social media and overhauling the City's Web presence.
Myrick's active advocacy in Albany and in Washington D.C. has resulted in over $20 million of grants and awards from the State and Federal government.
As Mayor he inherited a $3 million deficit. His first budget included a radical overhaul of City government that merged departments, streamlined processes and was able to successfully close a $ 3 million deficit - all while delivering the lowest tax increase in the City of Ithaca since the year 2000.
In the new year Myrick is looking forward to continuing to press for economic growth in the City and renewing the City's focus on combating violent crime.
This information is accurate for the time period that this person(s) spoke at Hobart and William Smith.