Kodak’s down. Valeo’s out.

Sure,
every month or so we get word of a company moving here or expanding local
operations. And COMIDA’s doing a bang-up job of creating employment
opportunities one or two at a time. But a few dozen jobs here and there don’t
really even begin to offset the much larger numbers many of Rochester’s
traditionally large employers are hemorrhaging.

And
following those jobs out of Rochester and the rest of the Northeast is our
population base, our critical mass of people.

Without
people or jobs or both, our property values and tax base dwindle, which means
so does the pot of money we can spend on highways, police, and schools. Which
means we graduate kids less prepared for the 21st century workforce, further
deterring businesses. Without feasible jobs, it’s hard to blame many of those
kids for profiting from the drug economy instead of sitting in unemployment
lines.

This
tangled-up problem doesn’t have an easily identifiable beginning or end, and
lots of people are involved. But plenty of people look to City Hall for
leadership. Yes, we all know that the mayor — or any governmental body for
that matter — can’t solve all our economic problems. But in case we ever
decide to stop kvetching about this town’s woes long enough to want to do
something about them, we’ll probably want to have a mayor who’s up to that
challenge.

Two
weeks ago we laid out the problems (“It’s the economy, stupid,” July 27),
through the eyes of many of the people who know this community and its economy
best — business leaders, politicians, bureaucrats, economists, the list goes
on. Then, armed with their perspectives, we turned our questions on the men
seeking to represent the Democratic Party in the race for mayor. Edited
transcripts from those interviews follow. To view our comprehensive election
coverage, go to www.rochester-citynews.com
and click on the Election 2005 tab.

—
Krestia DeGeorge

Read City’s interview with Tim Mains by clicking here!

Read City’s interview Wade Norwood by clicking here!

Read City’s interview Bob Duffy by clicking here!

This article appears in Aug 10-16, 2005.