Write a commentA man whose involvement can be seen in countless community development projects in the Port City died Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013, at Oswego Hospital.
Eugene Saloga, who served in local government and was a stalwart leader of Oswego's Community Development Department, died Thursday at the age of 86.
Born and raised in Oswego, Saloga served 23 years in the Air National Guard, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
It was in local government and public service, particularly in community development, that Saloga made his mark on the Port City, according to two former city mayors who worked with him.
"Gene was one of a kind. It's a great loss to the community," said former Oswego mayor John Sullivan. "Gene was really involved either tangentially or as an architect for so many projects over the past 40 years." Sullivan, who wrote a column detailing Saloga's accomplishments in early October in The Palladium-Times, said Saloga "didn't cherish the limelight," but instead preferred to work behind the scenes.
Terry Hammill, another former mayor who worked with Saloga, also praised Saloga's work with the city, saying that he was "something of a visionary." "His service ... was really the signature of the whole (Community Development Department). His vision and his work for the betterment of the community made the community better. He's a great loss for the community," Hammill said.
Saloga served as a supervisor in county government for Oswego's 8th Ward from 1958 to 1967 and was appointed executive assistant to Walter Lazarek, at that time mayor of Oswego, in 1974.
In 1976, he was appointed by then-Mayor James Fitzgibbons to director of the city's Community Development Department, eventually retiring from that position in 2000.
Saloga had also served as president of Operation Oswego County and president of the state Supervisors and County Legislators Association, as well as with the county and city planning boards, the city library and the city school district.
A past winner of the Rhea Eckel Clark Citizenship Award from the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board, Saloga had also served as county and state director for the state Soil and Water Conservation Commission.
The laundry list of community involvement really only scratched the surface of Saloga's abilities, said Sullivan.
"He had a foot in so many worlds. He was a geologist, a retired colonel, he knew community development, he was a Republican and then a Democrat, he just crossed spectrums in so many different wants," Sullivan said. "Saying he's one-of-a-kind may be an understatement, but it's an accurate one."
Click for Eugene Saloga obituary.
