SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Mayor Stephanie Miner has spent eight years in City Hall, but soon residents in Syracuse will elect a new mayor to walk these steps on his or her way to work.

As they make their final campaign pushes, they reflected a bit on Miner's legacy, as one of them now prepares to follow in her footsteps. 

Focused on finances, Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins and fellow Democrat Juanita Perez Williams says Miner kept an important status quo.

"I would give her credit for maintaining really the ability to keep us in the black," Perez Williams said.

"She prevented us from going bankrupt; I give her credit for that," Hawkins said.

But Hawkins and Perez Williams now want the city to do more, partly by working with others. Hawkins graded her tenure a D.

"I think she went the austerity route rather than seeking the funding that we need from the state or for progressive tax reform locally like I've called for," he said.

"I think we need to take some risk here and start investing in this city," Perez Williams said. "We know there's so much potential, but it means we actually have to have some partnerships where we work with the county and state level."

Putting policy aside, Republican Laura Lavine complimented Miner.

"What I most admire about her is her intelligence and how committed she's been to the city," she said.

But on the side of policy, Lavine varied sharply.

"I think we're in far worse shape then we've ever been in a long time, and the majority of Syracusans sadly agree with me," Lavine said.

Lavine said public safety and graduation rates are still concerns. Independence candidate Ben Walsh worked for Miner for six years as economic development director.

"During the time that I was there, we saw a lot of good things happen," he said. "We've seen a lot of development not just in our urban core but in our urban districts."

But Walsh said poverty has not been fully addressed.

"Much accomplished, much work still to be done," Walsh said.

You can watch Mayor Miner's farewell speech Friday on Spectrum News live at 4 p.m.