Elect a Democratic majority to the Lej 

All 29 seats in the Monroe County Legislature are up for election this year, so no matter which party wins control of the chamber, we're guaranteed at least a few fresh faces; many longtime legislators face term limits.

The Legislature has major issues to tackle over the next few years. Of particular importance will be working with the next county executive to improve the county's shaky finances.

City endorses a Democratic majority in the Legislature to go with our endorsement of Democrat Sandy Frankel for county executive. A Democratic county executive combined with a Republican majority in the Lej could be a recipe for paralysis, given that the GOP caucus routinely dismisses, rejects, or buries Democratic proposals with little discussion.

That includes proposals to strengthen oversight of county-linked local development corporations, to restore county cuts to child day care subsidies, and to prohibit the county waste water treatment plant from accepting fracking waste.

Republican leaders referred a recent Democratic proposal to ban the sale of products containing microbeads within the county to the administration for further study -- a tactic the caucus has historically used to quietly block the party's legislation.

Legislature Democrats are already showing signs that, as the majority party, they'd be willing to work with Republican county executive candidate Cheryl Dinolfo, if she wins.

One of Dinolfo's key proposals is to eliminate county-linked local development corporations. Recently, Democratic Legislator Joe Morelle Jr. submitted legislation for the county to hire an outside law firm to analyze the possibility and implications of dissolving the LDC's.

Democrats have raised questions about Dinolfo's plan, but Morelle insists that the proposal isn't political. Rather, the idea is "to give the next county executive a head start," Morelle Jr. says.