You don’t see lawn signs up, and the election’s not until
next fall, but Rochester’s campaign for mayor has already started. Candidates
have begun raising money and lobbying political-party committee members.
           Before we
start thinking about who we want, though, we ought to talk about what we want. What are the city’s challenges?
What qualifications — what experience, what skills — are needed to meet
them?
           The
challenges are enormous. Expenses will continue to grow while the city
struggles to strengthen its tax base. But there are also enormous
opportunities. Rochester, as Mayor Bill Johnson points out frequently, is in
far better shape financially than many cities, particularly those in New York
State. And despite tight budgets, both Johnson and his predecessor, the late
Tom Ryan, built records of exceptionally good and creative stewardship. With
the right person as the next mayor, Rochester can build on those records.
           Here’s my
list of qualifications for the new mayor, with input from several long-time
City Hall observers.
1) Regional
leadership ability. The city didn’t cause its most serious problems —
declining tax base, failing schools, large areas with high poverty and crime
rates, weak retail downtown. And it cannot solve those problems by itself.
           The
problems are the result of housing and businesses moving to the suburbs and the
decline of manufacturing. The city, and the next mayor, will need the support
of county officials, suburban leaders, state leaders. The mayor will have to
convince the residents of the suburbs that the city’s health is crucial to the
health of the entire region. That a healthy, vibrant downtown will attract
businesses and residents to the region.
           With a weak
city, “Greater Rochester” will simply be a collection of small, independent
towns, with no state or national presence. The individual communities in New
York State are so firmly separated that they seldom operate as a whole. And
states in which regions do operate as a whole are cleaning our clock.
           The next
mayor will have to continue Bill Johnson’s bold push for regionalism. Johnson’s
fate in last year’s county-executive race may intimidate his successor. It must
not; no issue is more important to this community, and there is no better way
to lift this community out of its economic decline.
2) Decisiveness. The mayor may also have to convince city residents to make some hard choices
— and he must have the backbone to stand up to pressure.
           For
instance: Should the city spread its public investment around — a little for
each neighborhood and some for downtown? Or, with declining resources, should
it focus on a few areas where there’s the best chance of the biggest payoff?
           Should it,
for example, say no to some neighborhood requests in order to do more downtown?
This is a long-standing dilemma, and it’s a tough one. All city residents
deserve a decent quality of life: good public safety, clean streets, repaired
sidewalks. When neighborhoods decline, residents who can leave, leave.
           But
downtown housing development has begun to take off. Some observers think that
it’s nearing critical mass, especially in the East End. That we’re not far from
having enough housing to support a variety of small retail and service
businesses — and yes, a small grocery or two, of the kind found in downtowns
of thriving large cities.
           But public
investment in downtown housing could include incentives to develop more housing
for middle and upper-income residents. That could bring more residents
downtown, and they would support more retail, restaurants, clubs, and arts
venues. And that would raise the tax base for the entire city. City residents
and businesses could pay less in property taxes. The city could provide more
money for the school district or for neighborhoods.
           Would
neighborhood residents be willing to defer to the needs of downtown? Should
they?
3)Administrative skills. Years ago,
Rochester had a “weak mayor,” city-manager form of government. The mayor was
the public presence. The city manager was the person with the strong management
skills and experience.
           Now we have
an elected mayor, who needs to be both the public presence and the manager — or delegate the administrative role to someone
else. Any new mayor has the opportunity to appoint department heads who will
carry out the mayor’s vision and do a
good job. A new mayor must be able to determine which staff from the previous
administration should stay on, and which should be replaced.
4) Vision. The
Greater Rochester area has a habit of timidity, of thinking small, of being
risk averse. Thinking small will get us nowhere. Most certainly, City Hall must
spend the public’s money carefully. But the mayor must be more than a coin
counter.
           The entire
Greater Rochester area needs bold vision, creativity, and backbone, and the
mayor can lead in those areas. We need to find ways to be innovative — and to
build on strengths that we have and other regions don’t. (A dismaying example
of our small, me-too vision: the proposal for a casino for the Sibley’s
Building.)
           Bold ideas
and daring don’t always have to involve public funds. The downtown housing
currently under way is being done with private investment. Chicago’s fabulous,
bold Millennium Park was heavily financed with private donations, but Chicago
Mayor Richard Daley was a prime mover.
           Bold ideas
and daring will also be necessary to address one of the city’s most important
problems: schools. The push continues in some quarters for City Hall to take
control of the school district. I have mixed feelings about that, principally
because it doesn’t address the root cause of the school’s problems:
concentrated poverty.
           I am
convinced that working together, the school district and City Hall can craft a
plan to make Rochester schools a countywide attraction. And even before that,
the district, with City Hall’s help — and without much money! — can attract
city residents who now flee to private and parochial schools.
           More on
that later. Meantime, it’s time to start thinking about Bill Johnson’s
successor. What do you want in a
mayor?
This article appears in Nov 24-30, 2004.
