SKANEATELES - This year the Skaneateles branch of American Association of University Women has focused its attention on a topic that is gaining more and more interest on a national and even a global level, how to be more “green.”

The discussion continued Saturday at the Skaneateles Country Club when the organization welcomed Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney, who previously worked as a lawyer, serving in the Onondaga County district attorney's office, and served on the Syracuse Common Council before seeking the seat of county executive.

Mahoney said that she was pleased to be speaking to a group like AAUW and that she strives to represent the voice of the women of Onondaga County, a voice she said she believes has not always been heard and is still often overlooked in the political process.

“I'm encouraged by the broad support I have received,” Mahoney said. “All people have value and I am happy to represent the women's voice.”

Part of Mahoney's focus has been on the same issues the American Association of University Women has been focused on: how to make the area a “greener” place.

When she assumed office, Mahoney said that an issue that was immediately facing her was a plan for a sewage treatment plant to be built in Armory Square, the center of downtown Syracuse.

Mahoney said that something needed to be done, as excessive rain and runoff water has been taxing the sewer system in Syracuse, but that she was certain there was another way to handle this rather than build an expensive sewage treatment plant in downtown Syracuse.

Mahoney inherited a plan that was already in place, but she was able to get all the groups involved to extend the time period to find a solution to this issue.

“I was in office January first,” Mahoney said. “This had to start January 8. So my first week in office this is what I was dealing with.”

Mahoney said that she was able to secure more time and got more groups such as the Onondaga Indian Nation involved in the discussion to find a solution.

“What we are planning now is on the cutting edge,” Mahoney said. “We are going to be creating a lot of new developments.”

Mahoney has already helped to create committees in the county Legislature to look at green issues as well as creating a position that oversees green programs.

One of the first programs she has gotten on its legs is Save the Rain, an effort that shows that there are small things most everyone can do to help reduce runoff rainwater.

Mahoney said that, for example, if homeowners simply turn the downspouts from their garage to run into their landscaping it would reduce 17 percent of the rainwater that makes its way to the sewage system.

Mahoney said another project will call for four green roofs of different materials to be installed at the county correctional facility in Jamesville. The facility has four identical housing units.

Mahoney said that this will offer valuable research that can be used county, state and even worldwide to see what characteristics different materials offer and what value they have in the long run.

Before businesses and individuals make these investments they will be able to consult this research.

Mahoney has also been able to make changes in ordinances that in the past did not allow for porous materials to be used for sidewalks in Syracuse.

She said this change will also make a difference in rainwater, allowing more to be absorbed into the ground.

Mahoney said that these efforts could make a large difference and that Syracuse might be able to install an underground water storage container to deal with overflow, one that would gradually release rainwater back into the sewage system, an example of what she calls a “gray” solution, one that incorporates green ideas with traditional solutions, but with far less intrusion on the environment and using fewer chemicals to treat the water.

Mahoney said this could allow for the potential development of something like a soccer stadium in Armory Square as opposed to a sewage treatment facility.