On July 21, 5-year-old AJ Gibson died in inner-city Rochester. Police say they are investigating “apparent injuries” to his small body. His mother is in jail, charged with first-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child. This is the face of the City of Rochester. So is this: New housing development nearing completion downtown. […]
Rochester mayor
Posted inNews & Opinion
Poverty and potential: Rochester in 2005
On July 21, 5-year-old AJ Gibson died in inner-city Rochester. Police say they are investigating “apparent injuries” to his small body. His mother is in jail, charged with first-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child. This is the face of the City of Rochester. So is this: New housing development nearing completion downtown. […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
‘What would a safe community look like?’
For starters, here’s what a safe community wouldn’t look like: a 12-year-old gunned down walking home from a friend’s house; a 2-year-old hospitalized after an illegal handgun went off unexpectedly in her home; a troubled 13-year-old nearly killed by a police officer she charged with a kitchen knife. But this summer, these have been the […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
It’s the economy, stupid
They’ve obviously done their homework. The three major Democratic candidates for Rochester mayor have consulted the polls, and they agree on what you seem to be telling them are the big issues: crime, education, and economic development. Find a solution for all three, and they’ll get elected. And, maybe, save the city from its slow […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Issues? What issues?
Well, what qualities do you want in the next mayor of Rochester? If you live in the city, how are you going to decide who to vote for? Political insiders, union leaders, and the like have already made up their minds, for reasons that include vested interest and party politics (and yeah, sure, the […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Campaign opener: scenes from the forum
It was a pretty typical election-campaign event, but the size of the audience was anything but typical. People packed City Hall’s spacious Council Chambers March 8 to hear three candidates for Rochester mayor — and one possible candidate — discuss campaign issues. There were people sitting on the floor, people standing several deep at the […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
For the next mayor: big, tough problems
“Immense and perhaps intractable”: That’s how, in his recent State of the City address, Rochester Mayor Bill Johnson described his successor’s challenges. He could have as easily used the words “overwhelming and perhaps impossible.” Johnson is an optimist, though; and perhaps he wanted to provide a bit of hope for the candidates in this […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
After Johnson: a job description
You don’t see lawn signs up, and the election’s not until next fall, but Rochester’s campaign for mayor has already started. Candidates have begun raising money and lobbying political-party committee members. Before we start thinking about who we want, though, we ought to talk about what we want. What are the city’s challenges? What […]
