BINGHAMTON, NY (WSKG) — Binghamton residents will elect a new mayor this year. Current Deputy Mayor Jared Kraham announced Tuesday that he will run on the Republican ticket.
Kraham has been a part of Mayor Rich David's administration since 2014 and said he expects a statement of support from the mayor in the coming days.
Whoever is elected this fall will face challenges as the city recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, Kraham added.
“It will take someone with experience," he said. "It will take someone who knows how to get the job done. It’ll take some who knows the levers of local government. It’s not the era for on the job training in the mayor’s office.”
Kraham comes from a family of Broome County politicians. His father, Jeff Kraham, served as County Executive from 1996 to 2004.
The deputy mayor said he is running to support law enforcement and make the city’s neighborhoods safer. Kraham said public safety is the top concern he hears about from residents.
The city is in the process of reforming its police department as part of New York’s police reform and reinvention initiative, in which all law enforcement departments are mandated to participate. Kraham said, as mayor, he would support the Binghamton Police Department with the tools to be successful.
“Only by working with neighborhood watch groups, only by establishing some of the 21st-century practices that have been long established, that can actually reduce crime and increase trust with the police department,” Kraham said. “I’m confident that we can do that.”
The Republican added he also wants to hold bad landlords accountable, make the city cleaner and create new jobs in health care, clean energy and manufacturing.
No other candidates have been announced.