With Paul Whorrall stepping down after 12 years as the mayor of Manlius, his deputy mayor Hank Chapman is running this month to be his successor. Chapman, who has lived in the area for the vast majority of his life, said he has always had a love for the village of Manlius and that what he specifical ly has appreciated about the village through the years is its people. As a trustee starting seven years ago and then as deputy mayor for almost two years, Chapman said he enjoys being able to serve the village constituents and get to know them. “We also have a great business community here, and we have so many wonderful things to do, whether it’s in Manlius or the surrounding area,” Chapman said. “It’s my home—it’s really all I’ve known.” Chapman initially became involved in government as a Syracuse University student working on political campaigns, his first being for the local Congressman George Wortley, someone he said had greatly inspired his interest in government. Later Chapman was the deputy Onondaga County clerk, and then for 14 years from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s he was local government liaison for New York State Senator John DeFrancisco. Through the later part of the 1990s, Chapman also sat on the Fayetteville and Manlius zoning boards before running for and earning a spot on the Manlius Town Board. On the town board, he was a councilor from 2000 until 2002 and went on to serve as town supervisor until 2008. Between being elected town supervisor and being asked by Whorrall to fill a vacancy on the Manlius Village Board in 2018, Chapman began his current job at Haylor, Freyer & Coon, for which he sells insurance and provides risk management solutions to governments, with around 50 municipal clients throughout the state. Chapman said his career in insurance and his other roles over time have come together to cultivate his passion for public service while teaching him more about how municipalities operate, what goes into problem solving in collaboration with different departments, and what’s best for residents on a continuously evolving basis. Chapman said Manlius’ village board is a “great team” that works well together and “really closely” for the betterment of the community. He said that each member of the village board has brought unique strengths, ideas and perspectives to the table when discussing Manlius matters, seeking to find a “middle ground” through any disagreements in approach. He adds that the department heads, village clerks and other staff are dedicated to doing a “fantastic job” as well, making it more enjoyable and rewarding to fulfill his own duties. Chapman has been liaison to the village’s fire department, codes, planning, the parks and recreation advisory board made up of volunteers, and now the department of public works, that current appointment giving him a more well-rounded sense of what the DPW does. With the parks and rec advisory board, Chapman was involved in putting together a detailed plan to put a greater, more direct focus on short-term and long-term improvements that could be made to the village’s parks and what their maintenance needs are. That has led to new playground equipment at Mill Run Park, more seating areas and benches and the trimming of dying trees at Bicentennial Park, and upgraded roofs and signage at Perry Springs Fish Hatchery to go along with a “beefed-up” social media presence to draw more people there. A few years ago, Chapman called on people to join him in cleaning up the land designated as forever wild behind the Memory Lane neighborhood, which resulted in dumpsterfuls of trash being pulled out and “a real difference in what it looks like.” Chapman also worked alongside fellow village officials, the state department of transportation, and the Syracuse Metropolitan Transportation Council to narrow the top of Pleasant Street in Manlius and angle it to the right to dissuade people from pulling off Route 173 onto its “Do Not Enter,” downhill one-way in order to protect children at play—an example, he said, of listening and responding to concerns raised by residents. Chapman has also been on the budget and finance committee for all seven of his years on the village board, working with Trustee Tom Pilewski and others to prevent a single tax increase and to cut Manlius’ tax rate by more than 10% each of the last two years. Additionally, Chapman has been part of Manlius’ Main Street revitalization committee and a more informal committee set up to apply for and implement county and state grants. Over the years he’s also been on the boards for the Fayetteville Senior Center and the Manlius Historical Society. “I’ve always been involved in the community or tried to be involved as much as I could,” Chapman said. “I’m happy to continue doing so.” Speaking about Whorrall, Chapman praised him for giving back as much as he has to the community and for his leadership in tackling budgeting and village-wide enhancements. “He has more love and care and passion for this community than anybody I know, and it shows in everything he does,” Chapman said of Whorrall, adding that as mayor he’s always been receptive of well-presented, well-supported ideas. “That’s the thing people don’t see every day: If you come up with a great idea, he embraces it and lets you run with it.” As far as running for the mayor’s seat, Chapman said that since coming onto the village board he’s “jumped in with both feet” and really enjoyed his role as deputy mayor, but that he’s known in the back of his mind there would at some point come a day when Whorrall would decide not to run again for reelection. When that time arrived and Whorrall announced his approaching departure, Chapman was “ready to go,” prepared enough to transition into the role having been significantly involved already in the operation of the village government and having seen up close how Whorrall deals with tasks and day-to-day decision making. “I’m excited and really looking forward to the opportunity,” Chapman said. Chapman said his goals as mayor would be to spruce up the village even more and see building refurbishments through to fruition, keep the tax rate as low as possible, develop the Limestone Nature Preserve into an educational center, and reestablish a tree commission in the village. He said he would also like to pursue the right grants to offset the expense of burying the power lines in the central part of the village to better show off the scenery there. After the March 18 election, in which Chapman is running unopposed for mayor, someone else will have to be appointed deputy mayor in his place. ...read more read less