In
their escalating war of words, it’s the city
school board’s turn to take aim at Assemblymember David Gantt.
The
board called a special meeting Tuesday evening to consider a four-point
proposal by several board members aimed at getting $20 million in so-called
spin-up money and laying to rest notions of financial mismanagement in the
district.
Saying
the district is in a crisis, the chairs of three board committees — quality
assurance, community and intergovernmental relations, and finance — announced
the plans at a Monday press conference. With officials laboring feverishly to
cut $13.6 million from the district’s budget for the coming school year, board
members decried the state legislature’s recent decision to withhold the funds.
“We
know that we’re going to be harming our children’s education,” said Board
Member Daryl Porter. Board Member Domingo Garcia added: “If we don’t get this
money there will be massive layoffs.”
Buffalo,
Syracuse, and Yonkers, the state’s other large city school districts, all
received the spin-up funds.
Accusations
of poor financial management from Assemblymember David Gantt are blamed for
keeping the legislature from approving the funds for Rochester. The board is
countering by calling for an audit by the state comptroller’s office, the
creation of a blue-ribbon panel to make recommendations, and a conference with
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to bring the cash advance to a vote for a
second time. Silver’s press office did not return phone calls in time for
publication.
The
board also had leveled indirect criticism at Gantt. “The charges of fiscal
mismanagement have got to stop,” said Board Member James Bowers.
Bowers
said past problems have been rectified, and that needs to be acknowledged. “In
the past serious mistakes have been made,” he said. “In 2001-2002 we had a $41
million mid year deficit. Notice that hasn’t happened in the last
two-and-a-half years. And people need to let go of wrong perceptions, old
perceptions and begin to deal with facts.”
Asked
by a reporter whether the group’s comments were “directed specifically at David
Gantt,” the board denied it. “No, our comments are directed to you and the
community,” responded Porter. Bowers added “And please note that the only
people who are bringing up David Gantt’s name at the moment are reporters. We
have not mentioned David Gantt’s name here.”
But
he also fueled such speculation by saying “Some in the delegation share the
perception of mismanagement more than others.” He listed all state legislators
except Gantt as being the district’s allies.
Catching
the cold
As
the county plunges into the hiring
freeze announced recently by County Executive Maggie Brooks, some
disparities are beginning to emerge.
The
biggest loser? Public Health. The department has vacancies in 87.6 of its 295
authorized full-time positions. That’s nearly 30 percent of the department’s
potential staff, and double the next emptiest department, Environmental
Services, which has 15 percent of its positions unfilled.
Public
Health was also hit the hardest by part-time vacancies that won’t be filled —
23 out of a possible 50. The Sheriff’s Department came in second in the
part-time vacancy department with 38.3 percent of those positions frozen on empty.
On
the other end of the spectrum, Parks, Communications, and the Veterans Service
Agency each had no vacancies for full-time positions.
Park
it
The
East End Garage plays more of a role
in developing the East End than you might guess. The garage is owned by the
Cultural Center Commission, which uses parking revenue to supply loans to
various development projects in the area — most recently the high-end
Sagamore on East condos and renovations to the Auditorium Theatre.
But
the garage has seen a decline in overall use over the past few years. And the
Commission — a collection of city/county officials and private interests with
state-enabled powers like bonding authority — would like to turn things
around, without raising parking rates or eliminating free weekend and evening
parking.
Members
of the East End Business Association have grown very attached to the East End
Garage’s free weekend and evening parking, because it gives customers an easy
entrée to their shops. With the contract with the garage’s operator, Ralph
Parking, set to expire at the end of August, the Cultural Commission is tapping
East End business owners for creative ways for a new operator to raise revenue
in the garage.
Some
ideas, like putting advertising and auto repair and detailing services in the
garage, have already been offered by the Commission.
‘Insider’
out
Turns
out remixing Rochester is trickier than it seems.
After
receiving complaints from a customer, Wegmans pulled the August 6 issue of Gannett’s
new free weekly, insider, from its shelves. Turns out the customer was objecting
to “two different ads that used explicit language regarding sexual topics,”
according to the store’s department of consumer affairs. “We agreed with the
customer that the language was too explicit for the type of publications we
offer at no charge to our customers and their families.”
Wegmans
won’t reveal exactly which ad was objectionable. And we’ve given up trying to
guess.
City Newspaper has twice
been pulled from Wegmans’ shelves, both times for cover art that included
photographs of nude female breasts.
Jazz
for the people
Jazz
lovers will want to set a new channel button on their car and home radios. Tom Pethic, one of Rochester’s
longest-running and most popular jazz DJs, has brought his Artistry in Jazz show to Legends 990-AM. It airs from 10 a.m. to
noon Saturdays.
Pethic
hosted a show on WGMC 90.1 F.M. for more than two decades before being let go
last October.
“I’m
very excited,” Pethic says. “I’ve really missed being on the air, playing this
great American art form.”
Along
with instrumental music by jazz greats, Pethic’s new show features classic
vocals by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughn, and a weekly Tony
Bennett segment.
“I’d
like to attract the people who already listen to the Frank Sinatra show on the
station and bring in new listeners.” Pethic also plans to have a “Homegrown”
segment of local jazz talent, and he hasn’t ruled out having an occasional
guest artist in the studio.
This article appears in Aug 18-24, 2004.
