Read more about “The great race” in the
News Articles section here
This
year’s campaign for county executive is a crucial one. Monroe County is faced
with major budget problems, a weak economy, loss of manufacturing jobs, small
population growth, and a decline in the population of young adults.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Because current County Executive
Jack Doyle decided not to seek reelection, on November 4 voters will be
choosing between two candidates who promise change. Those candidates —
Republican Maggie Brooks and Democrat Bill Johnson — could hardly be more different.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Brooks is a former television
personality and county legislator and is currently county clerk. She is
portraying herself as a kinder, gentler Republican who will work with
businesses, community members, and higher education to move the community
forward. She is pledging a top-to-bottom review of county government and an
aggressive streamlining program to save money. She will not, she says, raise
property taxes or cut services.
Johnson, mayor of the city of Rochester
and former head of the Rochester Urban League, has a “no bull” reputation. He
is an advocate of regionalism and smart growth, and Republicans have charged
that he favors merging towns, villages, and the city into a metropolitan
government and merging city and suburban school districts. Johnson denies both,
but says he wants the county to study possible areas of service and structural
consolidation. He has focused much of his campaign on the county’s financial
problems.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย In recent interviews, Brooks and
Johnson discussed their assessment of the county’s challenges and their own
vision and plans. The following is an edited version of those interviews.
Read more about “The great race” in the
News Articles section here
This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2003.
