News Blog

Many Monroe County homeowners ought to get a check from the state this fall to help cover any increases in their local property taxes. If that sounds confusing, that's because it is.

Last year, the State Legislature passed a two-year Property Tax Freeze Credit. The state, however, has an income tax and not a property tax, which is where the whole check thing comes in. Lawmakers set up the credit to be entirely dependent on what county and local governments, as well as school districts, do in their budgets.

In order for homeowners to get the credit last year, the governments and school districts had to stay under the state's 2 percent property tax cap, which Monroe County governments did. Anyone who met eligibility requirements — their income was under $500,000 and the property was their main residence — got a check from the state.

This year, the governments in each New York county had to work together to develop an efficiency plan that, if implemented, would save a certain minimum amount of money in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Today, County Executive Maggie Brooks and representatives from several towns and villages announced that they have a plan, and that it'll be submitted to the state in time to meet the June 1 deadline.

Monroe County governments had to develop a plan that would save 1 percent each year — $5.5 million — in county and municipal spending, Brooks said. The Monroe plan accounts for over $60 million in savings, she said.

"Not only did we meet the goal laid out before us, we exceeded the goal," said Honeoye Falls Mayor Rick Milne.

But that $60 million figure comes with caveats. The governments were able to count cost-savings efforts dating back to 2012 in the plan, but the governments wanted to show that they were serious about shared and consolidated services well before then. So the plan lays out $35 million in savings from initiatives that began prior to 2012, according to Brooks.

The post-2012 figure — the one that counts — is approximately $27.5 million, and much of the savings aren't exactly new. The plan includes the county's consolidated 911 system, its public safety training facility, and the centralized library system — all of which exist already. Those initiatives count in the state eyes, however, because they're based on annual contracts between the county and municipal governments, Brooks said.

The savings also include a health insurance consortium formed by some towns, and GIS system software, which the county purchases and provides to local assessors and fire departments.

Webster Supervisor Ron Nesbitt, chair of the countywide Council of Governments, said that $10 million of the savings come from towns and villages sharing services.

But the speakers at the press conference said that the credit and tax caps aren't really what's needed to help local taxpayers — mandate reform is. 

The activist group Metro Justice will hold a rally today at 6 p.m. on revisions to the Rochester school district's Code of Conduct. The event, which will be held prior to the school board's monthly business meeting, will take place at district headquarters, 131 West Broad Street. 

The rally is intended to urge board members to take action quickly so that code changes can be implemented when school starts in the fall, says Eamonn Scanlon, education organizer for Metro Justice and Alliance for Quality Education of New York.  

The Community Task Force on School Climate, formed by Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas, the school board, and the Rochester Area Community Foundation, is rewriting the district's Code of Conduct to more effectively deal with student discipline and in particular, suspensions. 

The task force is a group of parents, teachers, students, law enforcement personnel, health and human services providers, nonprofit agencies, and neighborhood and civic leaders.

High suspension rates are directly linked to what some educators and social workers call the school-to-prison-pipeline. When suspensions are combined with low attendance, students are at risk of falling too far behind and often decide to drop out. Suspensions in city schools climbed to about 11,000 students annually by the mid 2000's.

Scanlon says that he is concerned that the code revisions will become engulfed in a process that will take too long to meet the needs of students and families who need relief now.

Metro Justice has been going directly to city parents and students, he says, knocking on doors, and listening to their concerns. And there is a sense of urgency among parents to address the district’s high suspension rates and punitive school climate, Scanlon says.

But there is no guarantee that the revised Code of Conduct will be ready for implementation by September, says education activist Rosemary Rivera. The policy is still a draft and multiple revisions will be reviewed by attorneys at Advancement Project, a civil rights group that has worked with several large school districts to improve school climate, before the policy is submitted to the school board for approval.

Rivera says that she understands the urgency, but it is important that the new code be intervention-based, with clear alternatives to suspensions.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has released a package of reforms for the State Legislature. The proposed legislation is probably dead on arrival, however, since it includes public financing of campaigns.

Schneiderman unveiled his End New York Corruption Now Act this morning. It'd give the attorney general's office the ability to investigate and prosecute public corruption, which it doesn't currently have authority to do, according to a press release from Schneiderman's office. The act contains more than a dozen other changes to state law. The changes include:

Once again, Governor Andrew Cuomo has taken to the airwaves to help drive his agenda through the Legislature. This time, he’s asking us to call on our Assembly reps to tell them to approve his proposed Parental Choice Education Act. The television ads make an emotional appeal for fairness by giving lower income parents a way to opt out of the state’s roughly 178 failing public schools to attend private schools.

Cuomo’s proposal is strongly supported by Cardinal Timothy Dolan. Many Catholic schools have closed in the last few years, and maybe parents would have enrolled their children in those schools if they could have afforded the tuition. 

Under Cuomo's proposal, families with annual incomes up to $60,000 would be eligible for a tax credit of $500 per child attending a private school.

And donors who contribute to nonprofit organizations that provide scholarship money to private-school students would also be eligible for a generous tax credit – up to 75 percent on donations up to $100,000. 

Cuomo has some support for his bill, and a form of it probably will pass. Locally, Mayor Lovely Warren is a supporter. 

But there are some problems with the bill. A recent post by education historian Diane Ravitch refers to a blog by Bruce Baker, a Rutgers University education professor. Baker provides an interesting example of how Cuomo’s tax credit could benefit a small religious enclave in the town of Monroe.

The Supreme Court ruled against the religious group’s earlier attempt to be treated as a public school district even though it wasn’t open to the general public. Cuomo’s plan, as Baker points out, essentially creates a loophole big enough to slide a school district through.

No one wants poor children to be anchored to the state’s failing schools, but why should the state reimburse wealthy donors for their “gifts” to private schools? Their tax break then has to be subsidized by everyone else.

Would the tax credit for a donation to a Catholic school, a nonprofit that is already exempt from paying taxes, breach the boundaries that separate church and state? Since the taxpayer is indirectly underwriting the cost of the tax break, should religious educational institutions be required to offer their employees health insurance that includes contraception?

It sounds like the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative will be less about rolling out new programs and more about making what we have work better.

Leaders of the efforts today announced the appointment of 150 local people to serve on six working groups that will tackle health and nutrition; housing; safe neighborhoods; jobs and workforce development; education; and justice-judicial. The names will be familiar to many Rochesterians.

Feedback is also being sought from people living in poverty or who have emerged from poverty and are receiving some form of assistance to see what works well and what doesn’t.

The initiative will be led by Dr. Leonard Brock, who is currently with the Children’s Agenda. Brock’s resume also includes the Community Place of Greater Rochester, where he was vice president for community partnerships and associate vice president of youth development, among other titles at the agency. Brock will be paid $95,000 a year. More staff, including a deputy director, have yet to be hired. 

The initiative is operating with an initial $500,000 budget, which seems paltry when measured against the size and depth of the community’s poverty problem. But at today’s press conference, State Assembly member Joe Morelle said that he believed that the state would be open to providing more money as long as the initiative shows progress.

Morelle, Rochester Mayor Lovely Ann Warren, and County Executive Maggie Brooks said that much is already being done to address poverty in the community, but that the efforts tend to take place in isolation or address only one part of a multidimensional problem. The goal of the anti-poverty initiative is to remove the barriers and to get everyone working together to finally move the needle, Brooks said.

The initiative is adhering to an aggressive timeline, Morelle said. Interim reports from the working groups should be ready by the end of June, he said.

This post has been corrected.

At 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Democratic County Legislator Dorothy Styk will host a public forum on toxic chemicals in children’s products. The forum will be held at the Perinton Community Center, 1350 Turk Hill Road.

The State Legislature is considering legislation, the Child Safe Products Act, that would ban certain chemicals and heavy metals from children’s toys and clothing sold in New York.

The Assembly has passed the bill, and the legislation has around 35 sponsors and co-sponsors in the Senate – which means it easily has the votes to pass. Last year, the Senate didn’t vote on the bill.

Other communities, including Albany and Westchester counties, have passed their own laws to keep toxic chemicals out of children’s products. But toy industry groups are suing Albany County, arguing that federal toy safety standards preempt the local laws.

No Monroe County legislator has introduced toxic toys legislation, though a proposal could follow the forum. Children’s and consumer advocates, as well as toy industry representatives, have been invited to speak at the forum.

Anyone interested in speaking during the forum should call (585) 753-1940 to sign up.


Also at 7 p.m. Thursday, Irondequoit Supervisor Adam Bello will give his State of the Town address at Irondequoit Town Hall, 1280 Titus Avenue.

A lot has happened in Irondequoit over the past year. The town started building its new library, and has taken action to address vacant and zombie properties. The County Industrial Development Agency also terminated a tax incentive agreement for the stagnant Medley Centre building, while its former lender began proceedings to foreclose on the property. BY JEREMY MOULE 


A tour of the new Hilton Garden Inn on East Main Street downtown is the highlight of the latest installment of Rochester Downtown Development Corporation’s 20105 Urban Nights Series. The event is from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 27. Parking is available in the Stone Street garage.

In addition to the tour, there will be prize drawings, hors d’oeuvres, and cocktails. Price is $12 for RDDC members and $15 for everybody else. Reservations: 546-6920 or [email protected]


Leaders of the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative will announce the names of nearly 150 local people who will serve on the health-nutrition, housing, judicial, safe neighborhoods, jobs, and education work groups. They will also announce the appointment of the initiative’s director.

The press conference is at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 26, at the United Way, 75 College Avenue.

The initiative was created by Governor Andrew Cuomo, but has come under fire for lack of representation by people in poverty and for inadequate funding. BY CHRISTINE CARRIE FIEN

The Monroe County Democratic Committee unanimously endorsed Sandy Frankel for county executive during a relatively smooth nominating convention tonight. The only drama came during voting on city school board candidates, which required a second round of balloting.

Ultimately, the four endorsed candidates were Liz Hallmark, Malik Evans, Mary Adams, and Matthew McDermott. Hallmark and Evans received enough votes to win their endorsements in the first round.

Adams and Evans are sitting school board members. Their fellow incumbent Willa Powell didn't get enough votes to win an endorsement. Melisza Campos, another incumbent, is not seeking re-election.

Frankel gave a brief speech after her nomination. She hit on familiar Democratic criticisms of the Republican-run county government, including a series of scandals and cuts to county funding for child care subsidies.

"It is time for a change," Frankel said. "It is time for a new direction in Monroe County."

Henrietta Supervisor Jack Moore is taking a ton of heat for his widely-circulated, "city cousins" remarks. Monroe County Republican Chair Bill Reilich wants him to resign, as do Henrietta Democratic Committee Leader Simeon Banister; Democratic County Executive candidate Sandy Frankel; the Rev. Lewis Stewart of the United Christian Leadership Ministry; and the Democrat and Chronicle editorial page.

The Rev. Marlowe Washington, pastor of the Historic Parsells Church in the city, has invited Moore to his church to "co-mingle with parishioners" and to apologize to city residents.  

Moore's remarks came to light because they were overheard by a town employee, Donald Youngman, who then filed a complaint with Henrietta's Ethics Board. WHAM Channel 13 broke the story Tuesday night, and aired segments of the remarks captured by video cameras in Town Hall; Moore could only be heard, not seen. There's no question that Moore made the remarks, however, since he has admitted it. He's told local media that he intended no offense, that he's sorry, and that he's taken sensitivity training.

The question at this point is whether Moore should go. He says that he won't resign and that town voters will decide whether they want him in office, since he's up for re-election this year. It's a big re-election year countywide, which may have "encouraged" Reilich to dump Moore so quickly. 

But there's another leg to this story, which WHAM also deserves credit for uncovering. 

Moore faces three Equal Opportunity Employment Commission complaints, all of which allege that he made insensitive, offensive, and inappropriate remarks to or about the people who filed them. In one case, Moore allegedly gave someone the nickname "fat tortoise." Moore is dismissive of the complaints. He told WHAM that he's applying business standards to government, which is causing "employee discomfort."

If Moore doesn't resign, Henrietta residents ought to give serious weight to the EEOC complaints and the "city cousins" remark when they go to the polls this year. Combined, they paint a picture of a leader who lacks respect for many members of the community — news flash, Jack Moore: black people live in Henrietta, too — as well as the people who serve them. And that's something that sensitivity training will not fix.

He’s back. Well, maybe. The Buffalo News’ Tiffany Lankes reported recently that former Rochester superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard is one of the finalists in the Buffalo school board’s search for a new superintendent.

Brizard left Rochester on not-so-pleasant terms to work for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel — where he also reportedly had some difficulties. But he may be the right candidate for Buffalo’s schools.

Brizard, as Lankes rightly points out, earned a reputation as an education reformer out of the Broad Institute — a supporter of charter schools, a stomach for closing failing schools, no friend of unions, and he has no serious issues with mayoral control of urban districts.

His experience in some of these areas may be precisely what some school officials and pols in Buffalo think they need right now.

Buffalo, like many poor urban school districts, has a number of failing schools. Brizard would presumably have to decide whether to find some to turn them around, or convert them to charters or close them.

It’s hard to tell how that would go for him. Some of the education reformers’ sales pitches have lost their luster in the last two years, and the push-back isn’t coming solely from teachers unions. Stiff resistance from parents to the Common Core curriculum and excessive testing are surely evidence of that.

And the more Governor Cuomo pushes his education agenda, which includes tougher teacher and principal evaluations, the more his popularity drops.

Brizard, however, knows what he's getting into; that school superintendents may start out thinking they have the support of politicians and community leaders when they have to make tough, unpopular decisions, only to find that support can shift with little advance notice.

In the coming years, Seneca Park Zoo plans to keep its Bornean orangutans — it's the only zoo in New York that has the species — and add gorillas and giraffes.

It'll also tear down the main building and replace it with a tropical building to house orangutans and gorillas. The white rhino that currently lives in the building will get new digs in an enhanced Step Into Africa area located north of the elephants, but within zoo boundaries. It'll be outfitted for giraffes and other "hoof stock" animals, too. 

That's phase one of a draft 10-year plan for the zoo, and it carries a $38-million price tag, Monroe County Parks director Larry Staub said last night. The county and zoo will probably look to the Seneca Park Zoo Society and public fund raising to cover some of the costs, he said. 

The Parks Department and the zoo held an open house yesterday afternoon to show the public conceptual designs for the planned improvements. (The display materials from the open house are attached at the end of this post.)