Seven people are running in a Democratic primary for what must surely be the most thankless of all local elected offices, the Rochester School Board. Although there will be Republican, Independence, and Working Families parties on the ballot in the November election, the four winners of the September 9 Democratic primary will have a strong […]
Mary Anna Towler
Mary Anna Towler is a transplant from the Southern Appalachians and is editor, co-publisher, and co-founder of City. She is happy to have converted a shy but opinionated childhood into an adult job. She credits a grandfather for instilling in her a love of politics. And she makes no apology for her liberal views.
Posted inNews & Opinion
Campaigning on fear
This year’s county-executive campaign could have been about ideas, issues, and vision. It will not be. Steve Minarik’s Republican machine has seen to that. To boost Maggie Brooks’ chances against Rochester Mayor Bill Johnson, the Minarik machine has launched a campaign of fear, divisiveness, and hate. And a passel of Republican elected officials has fallen […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Time bomb
There is a time bomb waiting to blow up in our faces — in Rochester, in Pittsford, in Hamlin, in Webster, in Gates, in Mendon…. The time bomb is the county’s financial situation, severe now, and growing worse. Last year and this year, the county faced major budget deficits. It covered them by, among […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Doyle versus the city
Although the county-executive election is only four months away, this super-important race is getting off to a quiet start. We have, however, already seen the themes of the Republican campaign: crime, taxes, and fear of the residents and the problems of the city. Outgoing County Exec Jack Doyle laid it all out for us […]
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The test tyranny
I’ve been hearing the term “high-stakes testing” for several years, but my brain had just filed it away with a ton of other education jargon. Made little sense. Had little relevance. Then I read about the Regents math test, and I got it. And just retched. One of our children — now grown […]
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Buses to the rescue?
Central Station, Rochester’s $58-million bus station, is “poised to surge ahead,” says the Democrat and Chronicle. This Thursday (June 19), the Genesee Transportation Council is expected to approve $30 million for the project, which has been proposed by the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority. Congress has already agreed to provide $12 million, and Authority leaders […]
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King of the world
Are you paying attention? Now it’s Iran that is harboring terrorists. And building nuclear weapons. And developing biological and chemical weapons. And, says the Bush administration, Iran is stirring up trouble in Iraq. The drumbeat is quickening: Iran needs a regime change. Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that “hard-liners” in the […]
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It’s not your problem
Only about a quarter of Rochester’s 9th graders graduate four years later — and only 4 percent of those freshmen get Regents diplomas. In 2001, only 11 percent of Rochester’s 8th graders passed the state math exam. If you live in a Rochester suburb, that’s not your problem. It’s not the State of New […]
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Can we think big?
If Rochester, Buffalo, and Syracuse worked together as a region, could we get the growth — new companies, new jobs, new people — that’s eluding us? Maybe. We’d certainly have a better chance than if we keep working separately. But boy, do we have a long way to go. Working together as a […]
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Keep up the protests
OK: We’re all on edge about the war. And people on both sides are pretty emotional. But it’s troubling to see war supporters challenging the patriotism of opponents. According to a good number of war supporters, protesters had their chance to speak before the war began. Now it’s time to shut up and support […]
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A time to mourn
The waiting and dread are over, and we have begun the war. And even if you believe that it is justified and moral, this is a time for mourning: for the soldiers and civilians who are dying, for the terrified Iraqis experiencing “Precision Shock” in Baghdad. For the people of Basra, where the Red Cross […]
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Thomas P. Ryan Jr.
Thomas P. Ryan Jr. Tom Ryan was a complicated man, and a complicated mayor. Ryan, who died last Friday, served as Rochester’s mayor from 1974 to 1993, and right to the end, he was shy: hated public speaking, didn’t like going to neighborhood meetings. “He was not one who reveled in the ceremonies of […]
