Former Mayor William A. Johnson Jr. said Tuesday that he is running for office again "to make amends" for the Duffy administration and the man he endorsed to succeed him.
Johnson has been critical of Robert Duffy before. But during a candidates forum hosted by RocCity Coalition, an umbrella group for Rochester's young professional organizations, Johnson said he made a mistake in backing Duffy. He said his successor had worsened police-community relations and distanced City Hall from citizens.
"I'm talking about the forward progress we were moving on that has been, if not reversed, at least it's been stymied," Johnson said to the more than 40 people in attendance and others watching online. "I'm running to make amends for that. I'm running to put this city back on the path that we were on."
Johnson, the Working Families and Independence parties' candidate, squared off with Democrat and former acting Mayor Thomas Richards and Green Party candidate Alex White during the hour-long forum at the Democrat and Chronicle.
Write-in candidates Ann Lewis and Dean Wojtczak were not invited to attend.
Richards, who was corporation counsel and, ultimately, deputy mayor under Duffy, countered Johnson's assertions in an interview after the forum, insisting Duffy had not walked away from citizen involve
ment.
"I think Bill (Johnson) is wedded to the way he did it," Richards said. "It is true that we've changed some of the ways he did it ... so he feels we have abandoned the whole principle, but we haven't."
Citizen satisfaction surveys rated the Duffy administration highest in openness and involvement, Richards said. As for police-community relations, he said that is an ongoing concern in this and other cities, and it was during the Johnson era as well.
Questions on Tuesday touched on involving young professionals in city government and their neighborhoods; assisting entrepreneurs; housing; festivals and nightlife; and city schools.
Assemblyman David Gantt, D-Rochester, is drafting legislation that would revise a state law mandating the level of school aid that cities like Rochester must provide. For Rochester, that level is $119 million, which is $50 million more than Buffalo. The city has long argued that is unfair. Gantt agrees, pointing out that Buffalo schools also receive more state aid.
Gantt said the original law was ill-conceived and the goal of reform is to provide a balanced approach, possibly a per capita formula. He said in an interview Tuesday that he wouldn't mind if the result is a reduction in cit
y aid.
"They don't have an $80 million hole," he said of the school district's estimated budget gap. "They lie to us all the time."
Asked if they would cut aid, none of the candidates jumped at the idea. Richards said the problem isn't necessarily the level of aid but that the decision is taken out of the city's hands.
"This may be the year that, in order to maintain (that level of aid), we'll have to lay off cops," Richards said, continuing later: "What we need is the ability to make that judgment. That doesn't necessarily lower that (school aid) number, but it should be part of the judgment we make for running the city."
Only Richards said he supports mayoral control of city schools, but added that he would be open to alternative actions that force substantive change in the district.
Johnson echoed Gantt in saying he doubts the district's budget gap is $80 million — just as he doubts the city gap is truly $50 million. He said there needs to be a full examination of how the district spends its money. Duffy had suggested a similar accounting at the onset of his push for mayoral control.
On housing, White said the city needs to create more mixed-use, mixed-income rental housing options in neighborhoods. Too many are in the downtown area, he said, where people pay a premium for market-rate rents.
He suggested exploring urban agriculture, solar panels on city buildings and support of cooperative businesses.
One of the newest additions to the city’s skyline turned out to be the inspiration behind one of the area’s newest logos.
RocCity Coalition is an umbrella organization of more than 30 other groups in the Rochester area looking to connect young professionals’ to various social, volunteer and other opportunities, while also trying to grow local talent and younger leaders.