City Council member Elaine Spaull sent out a brief announcement this morning saying she’ll seek reelection. Spaull, a Democrat, has held the East District seat on City Council since 2007. The district includes part of downtown stretches through several east side neighborhoods. “By many significant measurements, the East quadrant of our city has made great progress […]
City Council
Posted inNews & Opinion
Warren wants answers on RHA dismissal
Mayor Lovely Warren is demanding answers about a recent shakeup at the Rochester Housing Authority. Last week, RHA board members ousted executive director Alex Castro and picked City Council member Adam McFadden to take his place. At the time, the reasons for Castro’s termination weren’t clear. Today, in a terse letter to board chair George […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Election guide
Our endorsements and coverage of the fall campaigns:
Endorsements for Rochester mayor, City Council, school board, and the casino proposal; a look at the Green Party and its 2013 candidates; news summaries of candidates for Rochester City Council and school board.
Posted inNews & Opinion
Rochester City Council extends gas-drilling moratorium
Last night, City Council voted to extend a Rochester’s moratorium on natural gas exploration and extraction for another year. The resolution says the city extended the moratorium “in order to preserve and protect the public health, safety, and welfare of the residents of and visitors to the City of Rochester from known and suspected dangers […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Week ahead: Council vote on school budget, Lej vote on Dem funding and Northampton Park
This post has been updated to include a link to the county’s environmental statement for the Northampton Park plan.
Posted inNews & Opinion
City Council advances land bank legislation
When City Council meets next Tuesday, it’ll take up legislation to form a land bank corporation. Last night, a Council committee voted unanimously to advance the legislation. No members asked questions on the proposal. Land banks are new to New York State, but several are now up and running, including one in greater Buffalo. The […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Truancy crackdown gaining steam
Rochester Mayor Tom Richards is proposing that the city kick-in $15,000 to support the school district’s new initiative to battle chronic truancy. That would be matched by $15,000 from the school district, and $10,000 from United Way. City Council will begin vetting the proposal next week. Poor attendance and high truancy rates are widely believed […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Land bank concept gains traction at City Hall
City of Rochester officials are taking steps toward setting up a land bank, a not-for-profit entityintended to serve as a tool to address vacant properties. Last year the state passed legislation authorizing 10 land banks across New York. Earlier this year it signed off on five, including one in Erie County. (Artvoice has an article […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
City gets tough lead law
For years, Tim Mains has lobbied for legislation to end poisoning from lead-based paint in the city of Rochester. Finally, last Tuesday, inside a packed chamber, Mains, a 20-year Council veteran and a city school principal, got his wish. During its last meeting of the year and Mains’ final session as a Council member, City […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
For City Council: Conklin, Maneiro, Miller, Pritchard
Of City Council’s nine seats, five are up for election this fall. These are at-large seats, which means that in the September 13 Democratic primary, voters can choose five of the nine candidates on the ballot. The nine have remarkably similar opinions on several issues. Most support continuing subsidies for the fast ferry, at least […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Playing ‘political piñata’
City Councilman Tim Mains often jokes that he’s spent the past two years serving as City Hall’s resident political piñata. And it’s an experience that Mains says forced a hard lesson: that “political friends,” as he says, “are sometimes better defined by the adjective than by the noun.” Over the past two years, Mains, a […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
To market with downtown
It’s been a little more than a year since Bill Pritchard was sworn in to City Council, filling a seat vacated by Nancy Griswold. While spending much of the past year learning the ropes of his new post, Pritchard has also placed his focus on downtown development. Much of that is an outgrowth of Pritchard’s […]
