>> this is a special election 2005 presentation.
Voice of the voter on media collaboration involving wxxi, "the
democrat & chronicle" and 13 wham tv will host a debate among
the candidates for Rochester mayor.
The participants, those canled dates on ballots recognized by
the board of elections.
Here's your moderator, wxxi's Michael caputo.
>> A few days remain before Rochester chooses a new mayor.
Three candidates hold ballot lines recognized to the state
board of elections for a one-hour debate.
The voice of the voter collaboration is through the wxxi, "the
democrat & chronicle" and 13 wham tv.
This collaboration brought the community more than four hours
of debate, forrums, and interviews pow focused around the
pivotal election.
The voice effort is being supped by the Rochester community
foundation and the civic engagement program.
The candidates are city councilman Tim mains, former police
chief, Robert Duffy, and city attorney john parrinello.
Joseph specter is the political reporter for "the democrat &
chronicle" and Evan Dawson is a reporter for 13 wham news.
The format is simple.
They drew lots to establish that order.
The initial response will be two minutes.
The other candidates will have a minute to respond.
The fist candidate will have 30 seconds for any rebuttal.
I'll be putting up the stop sign for candidates when the time
is up.
At the end of the debate, each candidate will get two minutes
for the closing remarks.
We chose that order again by drawing lots.
We will begin.
We will start with Joe specter asking the first question to Tim
mains.
Joe?
>> With all of the collaboration, what kind of collaboration
with the county government with the combined police force might
be something you might remember.
>> Throughout the campaign, I talked about how you need to
relate to the other levels of government.
I drew a continue William, we begin with communication, that
goings to cooperation, collaboration, and finally
consolidation.
Consolidation has been the focus of much of our discussion in
this community about how governments should relate to each
other and we neglected the first three steps.
Know that in a mains administration, what I would focus on are
those first two opportunities -- regular communication, not
just between me and Maggie brooks, but also between my
department heads and those that she deems in her communication
to be able to communicate back and foth.
We have staff communication happening on a regular basis,
opening opportunities for that cooperation and collaboration.
I believe in the long run, if we're going oh achieve any
consolidation, you mentioned the police department has a
potential candidate for that, that would have to be worked
through the first few stages.
And certainly something that has once before been rejected by
the community has to have involvement from the community at
large as well.
So I'll be working specifically on having those communications
-- actually initial focus of my commube occasions with Maggie
are going to deal with -- communications with Maggie are going
to deal with social services and the efforts we mutually have
in alleviating the lead paint problem we have in this community
and the economic development.
Those are the three areas I think are most ripe for
collaboration.
>> Mr. Parrinello?
>> As far as collaboration with the county, there should be
absolutely no doubt in anybody's mind that Maggie brooks and
Sheryl donofo who are two of the main players in the county,
both of whom have endorsed me in writing and have signed the
mailings to at least 16,000 voters to vote for me on election
day.
So I have absolutely the assurance in writing of my
relationship with Maggie brooks and Sheryl donolfo.
Secondly, with respect to the police department, the
consolidation of police departments in this community is
totally out of the question.
It will not happen because the -- each of the Suburban towns
are very, very parochial about their police department.
I know we suggested it longing a, but it never happened.
>> Mr. Duffy?
>> First of all, I enjoy a great relationship with county
executive brooks and I would see that as an opportunity as
mayor.
I like Maggie personally, I respect her professionally.
And I look forward to our organizations working hand in hand.
Changes in the future are going to be driven by finances than
by political affiliations or governments.
And I would look to any opportunity that we would provide to
look at consolidation of services, ways to save costs .
that goes back to whether the economic development, the water
authority, and the public safety in crime, sharing information,
looking at ways to share services and working hand in in hand.
Too often in the past, we have not had that relationship.
I look forward to a strong city-county relationship.
It benefits every citizen.
>> Mr. Mains, you have 30 seconds for a final comment on that.
>> It's interesting -- my conversations I had the opportunity a
couple of weeksing a to sit down with Maggie, the things she
and I both talked about weren't just things that the city
needs, also frustrations that she has in making sure that the
county is doing what it needs to do an early intervention
services and she conceded how difficult it is in the tight
times that she has to deal with those issues.
As someone with 12 years' experience in the finance committee,
I understand the finances of both city and government better
than anyone else in the race.
>> The next question comes from Evan Dawson directed to Mr.
Buffy.
>> Bob and gentlemen, we hear a lot about the ferry.
Some people get tired of hearing about it.
We reached a critical juncture, especiallyly with the mayor
saying that perhaps more public money could be necessary in the
future.
A lot of folks thought we're passed putting more tax dollars
into it.
Folks ought to know when we go to the election day as mayor,
would you be willing to spend more tax dollars to make sure the
ferry stays solvent and continue running?
>> The information we've received recently are the numbers are
not what we expected with the ferry.
None of us would rule out any subsidies.
One thing I would look at is first of all to look at the ferry,
ways to utilize the resources to drive revenue.
The ferry does provide a great regional economic development
opportunity for this region.
Our city, county, all of our contiguous counties.
I don't believe we hit our stride in terms of marketing the
assets as of yet.
When the ferry was filled, when people came over here from
Toronto, there was great revenue and commerce in this city and
county.
Connect those passengers with the asset Wes have here.
We have golf courses, bed and breakfasts, wine country and
other counties.
While other counties may not initially be amenable to sharing
those resources and perhaps some the costs, one of the things
that I would look to is showing with data where the benefit
doss come from.
I think we have so much to offer with the ferry, it's about
having a marketing plan, business plan, and measuring.
One thing I would be adamant about, very few businesses have a
profit in the first year.
We have to respect that.
With regards to subsidies, there are subsidies in other areas
of entertainment as well.
I would look to maximize the subsidies.
Nothing I could turn my back on to generate money to keep it
afloat.
But, I'm clear where we got to the point where we realized the
ferry was just not going work, that we would have to make the
tough decisions.
The service is key.
The service may look differently.
It may vary with the size of the vote, but keeping that
service, keeping that connection between Toronto and Rochester
provides tremendous opportunities in the future for, again,
jobs, economic development, and other growth here in
Rochester.
>> Mr. Mains, one minute.
>> Bob claims he'll make tough decisions but done tell us what
the decisions will be.
What I said from the beginning on this particular issue is we
have to be careful about making sure that what we have works.
There was a lock discussion at the first time that we launched
the service when it was privately run, some question about
whether or not the boats that were purchased by cat was too
large for this market.
But I have said before this became an issue and certainly since
the city has acquired that vessel is we have to be careful to
make sure that we don't confuse the boat with the service.
The service is an incredible Boone to our local economy.
In particular, the tourism section of our economy that needs a
lot of attention and has slid significantly in the past 10
years.
I'm suggesting that if marketing done fill that vessel that we
need to be prepared to trade it off for a smaller boat that
will manage the market between Rochester and Toronto and keep
that valuable service.
>> Mr. Parrinello.
>> Yes, bob Duffy, I understand you can't criticize the mayor
for the type of business plan he put together and all of the
mistakes he made.
But first of all, according to Tim mains he lied to the city
council about giving away the revenues in the terminal for $1 a
year.
Secondly t city had a $4.2 million loss.
Thirdly, the very reserve had shrunk.
Lastly, the mayor finally came clean with the community that he
was wrong.
Than is the point -- we need gaming on the ferry.
I approve of the service.
We need gaming on the ferry.
We don't have the money to do the marketing.
We don't have the solid starting point -- revise the business
plan.
We cannot sell the ferry or recoupe the money because of the
depreciation that is overtaking the ferry.
We paid for it, we overdid it.
It had a bad business plan.
With a casino downtown, an attraction will rescue the ferry.
>> Your 30 seconds.
>> In term of what the report is so far, with the exception of
Tim, no one had information relative to the ferry up to this
point.
I'm adamant that the service provides a great tupt.
But we have to maximize our revenue opportunities.
It is about marketing, connecting, the passengers to the assets
in Rochester.
Our arts and culture.
And one thing that we can't lose sight of, last year, $250
million was pumped into this economy for tourism.
That represents jobs, ways to help our children and families
get out of poverty.
Do everything we can and make it work.
If it works, it's great.
If it doesn't, a decision will be made otherwise.
>> I have the next question going to Mr. Parrinnello.
The state reck menleds that Rochester submit a four-year
financial plan.
It shows a Qume lative budget gap of $192.5 mm.
According to the comptroller's office, more than Buffalo, more
than Syracuse.
What policy or policies will you implement to close that gap?
>> I think the estimation of the budget gap is far short
because of what mayor Johnson and this communication has done
to this community regarding the fast ferry, regarding high
falls and all the other failed businesses.
They're failure to attract other businesses with a prominent
tax base.
What I would do, simply, is press as hard as possible to get
that casino up and operating as soon as possible .
that's the only significant plan that will bring multiple jobs
and a significant increase in money to our community.
And the next mayor is going to inherit all of the ills of the
administration.
That's why we need a change.
We need a mayor that will sit in that office and will have
onest debate and open debate, not only with the community, but
with the city council.
We'll have to do everything possible to avoid having to raise
taxes.
We don't -- we only have $13 million before we hit our
constitutional limit.
So we have to be very innovative.
Eliminating that will bring $4 million to our budget area.
The casino will help the hotels thrive, which means more taxes
from the hotels.
The -- the cabbies are fighting over $20 fares right now.
Ladies and gentlemen, we would have a casino here if it wasn't
for mayor johnson taking some un-understandable, I can't
understand why he's taking the stand he took about the casino.
So I'm prepared to make the tough decisions without affecting
our poverty areas.
There has to be tough decisions.
I've made them all of my life.
I'm prepared to make them.
But, it's time for a change in city hall.
>> Now one minute.
>> First of all, the reality with the city's financial help.
First of all, we had one of the highest bond ratings in the
state.
In terms of fiscal management, there's a positive side to
this.
There is a budget gap that has been put fwort.
The number of things -- first of all, sweved $30 million less
per capita state aid than our cities to the west of us,
Buffalo.
Getting our fair share of state aid.
And the Rochester program going through every step of state
government looking at ways to save.
Be it consolidations and review of services, it's process to
save money, increase efficiency, and effectiveness.
We have assets swrefment to look at some of the assets we do
have.
Property asset, water authority.
Property of hemlock lake.
The things we may have to look at selling down the road to
close that gap.
Those are three areas.
Casinos?
I'm tope a casino.
Not in the heart of downtown.
A casino is not going be a singular change in the economic
structure.
It takes tough decisions in government and a focus for the
future.
>> Casino is not something that I think the mayor needs to
decide.
The community needs to decide about that.
I believe there's controversy about it.
I'm not opposed to a casino either but I don't believe it's the
magic bullet to save our economy.
No one, and I repeat, no one in this race understands city
finances like I do.
I recognized the essential responsibility to my government is
to grow the tax base.
The only way to get out of this problem is to make sure that
there are more folks available paying property taxes and the
properties that we have have a higher value.
My pioneer tax plan is the only specific proposal that's been
put on the table in the entire race that can do that.
It works like this -- substantial investment in commercial
property will lead to an immediate tax cut, the tax wills be
cut in half.
That tax cut will remain for 20 years.
I believe that that sort of incentive will generate investment
and commercial property, it will grow the tax base and create
jobs immediately.
>> Only 30 more seconds.
>> One of the major problems that happen in the primary
campaign is that Mr. Duffy an his campaign staff has alien ated
one of our greatest allies in Albany.
That is Dave cannon.
Dave cannon is a very powerful person.
So I'm afraid, bob, if you're sitting in the mayor's seat, that
uh ear going to go to ballny and try to get an increase, you're
going to met with what you dealt out will be dealt back to
you.
secondly, here's 2500 slots in providence, Rhode Island, their
solution to the problem is right here, ladies and gentlemen.
They voted for more slots.
The casino is the answer for multiple things.
>> I think I'll take questions from one of our voice of the
voter citizen panelists.
The panelist name is Patricia canti.
She wanted to discuss a policy aimed at crime prevention.
>> Public safety is a very important issue for the citizens of
Rochester.
Most of them think that a curfew should be issues now temporary
and then something more permanent.
We need to know, what are you going to do if you're elected
mayor and how are you going flow through on this?
>> Mr. Mains?
You have two minutes.
>> I've watched and listened carefully to the series of
hearings that my friend, Adam McFadden have held on public
safety.
And certainly throughout this campaign, I spent a lot of time
in this community talking to folks about their perception of
public safety.
The reality is that we're divided in this community about the
question of a curfew, but we're unite in the perception that
things are not getting safer, in fact, just the opposite, that
the increase in violence has left people with a deep concern
that even in areas we know have low crime rate, people don't
feel safe T. mayor has two responsibilities.
First, he needs to make sure that the police force itself is
structured in a way to do all of the things that it can do and
needs do.
When I become the mayor, I will make sure that there's a no
vacancy sign on the public safety building.
I will fill all of the vacancies that bob Duffy left when he
left as police chief.
I'll make sure that we have police in the neighborhood
patrolling on a regular basis.
The goal of bob helping to generate for a period of time.
But then we lost when we shipped it to the two systems that --
that -- the two what we call sections of the police department
and divided ourselves in half.
We need to get that back.
And whether there's two, four, 10, I don't care.
We need to have integrity, people in the same neighborhood on a
regular basis.
Finally, I want to make sure that the interdiction team can
deal with the issues of drugs, gangs, guns, prostitution, and
auto theft.
On the question of curfew, I'm waiting to be convinced that
it's going to do the job that we're going to do.
A lot of exime about it.
But I'm aware it will deplete police resources.
I'm aware when you commit crimes and you're the victims of
crimes, overwhelmingly, it happens in daytime, not at night.
We want to look at daytime curfew, kids are in the schools and
off of the streets and not getting in trouble.
>> Mr. Parrinello -- one minute.
>> The curfew has to be the last step.
You noticed that there has been very few killings in the last
couple of months.
The reason for that is set in one name.
That is police chief Sedrick Alexander.
He will be my first appointment if he decides to stay.
Secondly, we have interdiction teams on the streets cleaning up
the streets.
The presing system that Mr. Duffy reduced from seven to two was
a disaster.
My idea is to put concentrations of precincts in high crime
areas.
And as far as the force itself.
I drove down main street and two officers said get us out of
here, we'll go back to the streets.
The net office will be removed and the police officer wills be
put back on the streets.
And as far as Adam McFadden, I've gone to every one of his
meetings and I'm working with him.
>> Mr. Duffy, a minute.
>> Right to the question -- I think the question is about
curfew.
I would support a curfew if in fact it would do the things that
are most important.
Number one, I connects the services T. kids are on the streets
late at night.
They're out there for a reason.
Some of those children do not Want to be home.
Others are not well supervised.
It's connecting kids and families to services.
Number two, a curfew is not a quick fix.
There's no data nationally that suggests it will be a violent
reduction in a curfew.
It would be a tool.
The last part is the resource issue.
We have to understand, it takes an intensive amount of
resources to effectively enforce that curfew.
So if we can be prepared to apportion those resources, have
what's necessary to enforce it.
I would support it.
And as Ms. Canny said, on a temporary basis, measure it and see
if we should do it more permanently.
>> 30 seconds.
>> The notion of connecting to services key.
And that needs to happen whether we adopt any of the pieces of
Adam's proposal or not.
Adam's proposal, thou shalt not kill is modeled after a
successful program in Minneapolis.
I'm not against the concept.
But I'm not sure we're not pulling police resources away from
the more important responsibilities they have of fighting
crime.
If we institute a curfew and we've completed police in doing
the things we need do, the public is going to be concerned.
>> The next question comes from Joe specter.
You'll direct it to bob Duffy.
>> The mayor doesn't have a direct role in city zoorblings main
goal is to recommend how much school aid the city will give to
schools each year.
Is the answer to help the city schools giving them more school
aid or there other issues or ideas that you would like to work
with the schools to implement.
>> First of all to give the city school district the aid they
need to operate, number one, number two, ensuring every dollar
we apportioned to the city schools use and are accountable for
the results .
There are four areas important to me.
Student behaviors, attendance, test scores, and graduation
rates.
We have a very low graduation rate in Rochester.
We need to have a strong truancy program that keeps kids in
school.
One of my platform suggestions to start the school day higher
for high school children.
Teenagers' biological clocks don't work well at 6:00 a.m.
start them later n the morning, they can help mom and dad to
get younger siblings off and they are in school during the
times we've seen where youth crime and teenage pregnancies
occur, 3:00 to 6:00, 3:00 to 7:00 p.m.
It's about working closely with the superintendent, the school
board, teachers' associations and parents to make sure what we
do we are accountable.
As mayor, we will ensure we pre-k programs to schools and after
school.
There cannot be a disconnect with those three.
I look forward to the school district not only focused on the
accountability of education, which I just mentioned, but it's
also using the services that the school district has, using the
buildings and the resources they have to connect city
recreation facilities with the school district buildings.
We have to have an overall strategic plan.
One thing that's so important with the future of the
educational system here is I did join manny Rivera in Harlem
four weeksing a to walk through the Harlem children's zone with
Jeffrey Canada.
That program shows what we can accomplish when we have a
connection with a school district, government, social agencies,
neighborhoods.
It does work.
What Jeffrey Canada said is not only are his children
performing at a higher level, but also, they have not lost a
child in that zone in years .
that's the kind of collaboration of partnership that I will
build with the school district.
>> One minute.
>> I notice a pattern.
Bob talks about the problem, gives a couple of statistics.
He's good at saying what he thinks the problem is.
But he's very short on explaining the solutions to the problem
-- how we're going get to the goal that he describes.
He has found a couple of programs that other folks have
proposed and say I have endorsed that.
Has not come up with an original piece.
What I believe we need to do to support the schools.
From the mayor's office -- the most important thing a mayor can
do is make sure every child comes to school ready and able to
learn.
A lot of what the mayor needs to do is support the
neighborhoods and the families that the kids come from make
sure they're successful.
I appreciate bob supports manny Ramirez Rochester children's
zone.
It has powerful potential.
So does my Rochester children's initiative.
A similar program that intervenes in the lives of kids when
they're infants and toddlers to make sure they and their
parents have the right support to have the right preparation
for learning, the right nutrition, and the right health care.
Those sorts of things will ensure school success and keep them
off of the street.
>> Mr. Parrinello, one minute?
>> You have to read the call to arms.
Bob, you should have spent your time rather than going to
Harlem to read the call to arms report because the call to arms
report makes it clear, we're spending $129 million on
noneducational items.
If we're going have the budget gap that is predicted, then
there has to be suffering in the part of every part of
government, including the educational system.
We cannot change the curriculum every three years.
We cannot spend the high percentage of the education budget and
noneducational items.
The statistics in the call to arms are alarming concerning the
disciplinary problems they have.
It has to start at home.
I hold the families responsible -- you have to take care of
your children and send them to our schools prepared to learn.
>> 30 seconds, Mr. Duffy?
>> The future of education of Rochester is not just
responsibility of the district tor government, it's everyone.
The business community, parents, families, and city
government.
And specifically -- and I would just counter what I it's been
said -- the children's zone is one aspect of what we hope to
accomplish.
It's not just a school district initiative.
It's overarching.
It goes from pre-k to bird to right after school.
We're going to connect the resources to make sure our children
have hope and when they graduate from school they have
opportunities and it comes from collaboration, not finger
pointing, and results.
I want to be held accountable for those results.
>> We have one more citizen question coming from Ms. Canti to
john parrinello.
She wants to ask about a fiscal matter.
>> We need to know, what are you going do about the increase in
real estate taxes for city residents?
it went up quite a bit within the past years.
And we're wondering it will continue to go up.
>> Of Mr. Parrinello, two minutes?
>> Mrs. Canti -- the increase in city taxes should have been
1.9% this year.
Except the city administration dropped the ball.
They didn't get their paperwork in time to Albany.
It says the 1.9% increase, we enleded up with a 4.3% increase.
I'm going to go back.
It makes such common sense -- we need significant revenue in
the city to close the budget to avoid there being taxes heaped
upon people particularly in the poverty areas.
We are not going to get the tax base that the two gentlemen
sitting on either side of me think we're going to get.
We need a casino, we need a casino.
Jobs, jobs, jobs -- permanent jobs, jobs in construction,
significant revenue that will help us in rebuilding,
significant revenue that will go into the hotels.
Significant revenue which will attract people from Canada --
500,000 people in cab da have casino Niagara player cards.
they are going to go to Rochester.
I went down to Charlotte and talked to the waitress in the char
broil.
She told me when the Canadians come back and wait for the boat,
they complain there's nothing to do with Rochester.
Bob Duffy is worried about the wine country, I'm worrying about
the city of Rochester.
Bob Duffy is worried about the people coming over on the boat
and going to other areas -- I'm worried about people staying in
Rochester and spending the money.
We need the money.
We don't need just to be a pass-through city.
We need to be a destination city.
That's what we will be when we have the attraction of the
casino.
>> Mr. Duffy?
>> No quick fix ifs for economic situation.
Mrs. Canti is right on target.
Raising taxes should be the last option.
We're $5.2 billion below the tax limit.
It's about increasing the valuation of properties T. property
values have gone down.
It's raising the tax base.
It's getting people to in fact in the property and the city.
To bring in businesses and retail.
About increasing homeownership in the city.
It's about getting our fair share of state aid.
There's a process in place that I will follow.
I mentioned Rochester by the numbers, there's no doubt we will
see significant savings inside every level of government and
reinvest those savings in the area of priority.
It's about job, public safety, and education.
Raising taxes is the last resort.
There are a number of revenue sources.
Casino may be one -- but there's no single answer or quick
fix.
It's the overall development.
And downtown development is important, because downtown
represents a very small segment of our geographic call area.
But an overwhelming percentage of the property tax revenue base
as that growth increases revenue for the rest of our city.
>> I talked about the pioneer tax plan.
And there's no question that I just acknowledged it unless you
can grow the base, unless you can create investment, then we're
all going to have to pay more.
The way to avoid having us pay more is to have more people
paying.
The pioneer tax man has another aspect to it that applies to
residential customers so that besides the incentive to draw
commercial invest nment the city, I also suggested that those
people who own homes who make a substantial investment in their
homes, an investment so large that would increase your
assessment, that I'll phase in the tax implication, the tax
bite on that growth and assessment over five years .
that's the way I've tried to make it easier on the taxpayer to
encourage them to make those investments.
The city cannot itself create more dollars in its own coffers.
It has to have the general community investing in the city to
do that.
We can do it with good tax policy.
There's only one candidate that understands that.
>> Mr. Parrinello, you have 30 seconds.
>> Yes.
David Rusk, an urban affairs author, which apparently neither
of my opponents have read, has studied the city of Rochester.
Between 1990 and 2004, the consumer price index went up 45%.
Property values in Rochester went down 37%.
We need land use plans.
We need incentives to develop older neighborhoods.
We need to control tax abatements.
We need the casino.
>> We're going go to Evan Dawson for the next question.
He'll be directing it to Mr. Mains.
>> Mr. Mains, a lot of the business owners in the city are
angry about an issue.
The city forced the businesses to pay a $100 fee and the goal
is to shut down businesses running crime or drugs in the
business and highlight legitimate businesses.
We talked to small business owners who said the city has
threatened to shut them down or pay higher fine ifs they didn't
want to pay this.
They feel they've been treated like criminals.
I guess our question today as we try to encourage new
businesses and small businesses to grow, is this a proper
message to be sending?
>> It's a fair question.
It's a good question.
When we began discussing this -- my position on the certificate
of use is if we're going have a charge, we have to charge
everybody, not just small businesses, we ought to charge
everybody.
That's a cost of doing business in the city.
In the end, what we did on the city council was succeed in
lowering the fee that was proposed by the administration.
And we also were successful in creating an opportunity so that
once the fee was paid in the first year, we made it as minimal
as possible in the years necessary in years two, three, four,
etc. so, if you were a good businessman, you wouldn't have to
continue to do that.
The people who run small businesses are right.
They wind up getting stuck with this problem of paying that
initial $100 registration fee.
I don't think it's argued strongly that we should spread it out
and have it apply to everyone.
That didn't take.
>> There's another element to this.
You refer to it in your question .
that's the enforcement issue.
This comes back to not to a few policies but the way net
operates.
The nabled empowerment team that we created several yearsing a
has in many people's minds have become the neighborhood
enforcement team.
That's why I called for a study two yearsing a.
Net is going to be substantially reorganized or eliminated.
I'm not happy with an organization that has managed to create
such ill will of such elements in the community.
In some places, that works really well N. some case, net
provides that kind of encouragement, that kind of empowerment
that it was designed to do.
It's uneven across the city.
Some net office, some net administrators and co-inspectors
become aggressive in the way that I feel confronts our citizens
and is not customer friendly.
Customer relations and customers -- take caring of the customer
will be goal one for training all of our city employees.
Not just in the office.
>> Mr. Parrinello, one minute?
>> Yes.
Voters, I want to make this very clear, when I become mayor,
one of the first thingsly do is push for the elimination of net
-- having your answer was too narrow.
Net has become a -- an organization which has harassed
businesses and homeowners.
A lady named Carolyn riley just wrote to me.
She said -- saw your comments about net on tv.
Thought you would be interested in her situation.
She said she is being forced out of emergency housing into a
house unfit for human habitation.
And I just stopped at the -- at the protest movement in front
of city hall protesting the net organization.
We need the 15 police officers in net on the streets in
anti-crime.
We do not need the net offices.
We do not need the certificate of use fee.
We need net eliminated because what they are doing is they are
negatively impacting on our quality of life.
>> Duffy, a minute.
>> Questions of the c of u.
First of all, when the c of u was created it was to focus on
eradicating problem businesses we have seen over the years in
neighborhoods.
An unwitting result has that it's served to alien ate some of
the good small business owners.
It's important that we fix those areas causing friction.
It's important that we do not drive small businesses out of our
city.
They tier backbone of the economy.
It makes up an overwhelming number of our economic base.
It creates jobs in our city.
It's an opportunity to find and identify the areas that are
most troubling, try to fix those.
Focus on enforce wment the problem businesses but also focus on
helping our good businesses to thrive and survive and anything
we do to drive them out we have to change.
And relate Toiv that quickly, I walked the neighborhoods
through the whole campaign.
I heard over and over again, don't eliminate net, fix it.
Fix the problems.
>> I think net is going to be the larger question and larger
dilemma for the next mayor than the c of u.
It will be a trial program, we'll see how well it does or
doesn't work.
If it doesn't, we'll continue to modify it.
Net is a larger problem.
It takes $4 million of our budget right now.
I'm interested in -- and have been pushing hard on a separate
issue with legislation and in order to handle the inspections
for that, we need to look at how we organize net.
I severely believe that the decentralized portions of net need
to be recentralized.
>> The next question directed to Mr. Duffy.
We heard a lot from all of you about reining in expenses,
usually means services provided by people.
I haven't heard anyone suggest reducing the number of employees
in the government or taking a hard line on salaries and
benefits.
So the question is, would you consider cutting positions of
balancing the budget?
Would you take a hard line on salaries and benefits?
>> The city has cut a substantial number of the workforce in
the past few years to balance the budget.
We have cut 200 to 300 total positions.
That's a question we come to every year.
Every year depending on how we close the budget gap, yes,
positions will come into play.
The reducing positions certainly have to be considered.
You can't rule those out drble although it should be the last
thing, especially with vital purposes like public safety.
The issue of expenses.
There are a number of expenses that we have to look at to try
to reduce those.
The issue of health care t retirement costs are skyrocketing in
the big part of our budget, as difficult as those decisions are
t survival of government requires us to make sure we look at
everything.
That's part of the negotiation process.
But keep in mine, we're in a collective bargaining environment
where the mayor may put forth a proposal with regards to
working with the people who make up the city.
But in the end, with binding arbitration, the decisions that
are made will come from the arbitrator.
With that, at least in the case of police and fire.
So that is to me an opportunity to look for ways to reduce
expenses.
Now the personnel reductions may be the last if we can agree on
how to reduce expenses inside and make that happen, that would
be the first step.
There's nothing I wouldn't look at.
I mentioned Rochester by the numbers.
There is a way to go through government.
We have to look at services that we do not need, redundancies
of service.
We have to look at consolidations inside.
I intend to reorganize city government on a functional basis,
that we can look at ways to have it functionally operating.
And if we can combine and consolidate in government to save
costs and still not lose a service, we'll do that.
The last thing you want to do is take away a service to our
citizens, especially critical services.
But you mentioned a few questions, the issue of the budget gap
t finances will drive decisions in this city.
>> Mr. Mains, one minute?
>> It's interesting because bob and john and I all three have
said we will review city government and change portions of it
substantially.
If bob understood the numbers as well as he would like you to
believe he does, he wouldn't have in the course of this
campaign continued to promise to pay far whole bunch of
things.
We didn't talk about it tonight, but in the last nine month,
bob guaranteed he'll make sure there are nurses in the
schools.
He'll fund attendance programs in the schools.
Last night he said he would make sure there are lead testing
done every time a tenant turns over in a rental unit.
He promises to buy generators in all of the fire departments F.
there's a power outage.
He promised to put police officers on the street.
The promises he's made when he gets caught a question in a
forrum add up to somewhere between $70 million to $100 million
in expenditures.
Not because bob is trying to misrepresent because he has not
listened to or analyzed what he's promised.
We need to be careful.
We need someone in city hall who understands the finances of
city government.
>> Mr. Parrinello?
>> Number one, salaries and benefits.
Negotiations with the union.
I spent several years of my life negotiating from both sides of
the aisle.
I've represented unions and I have represented management.
Those are tough negotiations.
Particularly when you're talking about public safety.
When you ask those men and women to go out and risk their
lives, it's awfully hard to make any cuts in those areas.
Cutting the workforce through attrition.
I would cut the workforce through attrition.
I don't want anybody in city hall or anywhere getting nervous
about my mayoralship.
I will look around, we will be a thinner, more efficient city
and it will come through attrition.
Health care -- we have a problem with health care.
We deal with -- mayor johnson has illegally sat on that board.
Bob Duffy has taken multiple contributions from accelus.
And not only that, but bob Duffy's proposals as a deputy mayor,
chief of staff, crime commission, police -- I don't know where
he's going to get the money to pay for this.
>> You have 30 seconds.
>> As we find this campaign, there's a lot of
misrepresentations that do come forth.
I have made very few promises in this campaign.
But the things that I have focused on that I said I will
deliver, I will deliver.
I believe I can deliver that without raising any taxes.
It's about becoming more efficient inside government.
And Tim mentioned school nurses.
I will find $3 million for a public sector or private sector
working with the school district.
We have children who come to school every day that do not have
the kind of healthcare available to them.
Those are priorities.
Those are not promises.
Those are things that will happen.
>> Questions from Joe spector to Mr. Parrinello.
>> When voters go to the polls, they're choose one of you,
basing it on your character or how you deal with diversity.
One of the biggest challenges you had in your life and how you
overcame that.
>> I did write a piece concerning my father.
I lost my father early in my life.
But my father always managed -- he worked three jobs a week.
And he -- he was always there for me.
He always provided a decent place to live, encouragement.
I can hear him now sitting in the stands yelling, that a boy,
john, when I was playing.
And I did that piece because I wanted everybody to know that
throughout my life, I had the sport of my -- I had the support
of my father, sister, mother, uncles, everybody.
And you know, that really helped to prepare my character,
delivering papers, buttering toast, washing pots and pans,
playing in front of 33,000 people, dreaming my dreams and
achieving my dreams, going in to law, being very successful in
law and being -- once selected as one of the best lawyers in
America.
I have -- I have achieved a lot of -- this is not
self-serving.
I achieved a lot of recognition in sports halls of fames.
I've been captains of all of my teams.
That's leadership.
I don't know how -- I don't know how it happened.
But it's leadership.
I can tell you this, all of the challenges that I failed in my
legal career, I've held people's lives in my hands.
And people criticize me for representing other people.
I took an oath to do that.
I fulfill Thad oath to the highest degree.
And I am prepared come January 1 to set that oath aside and to
take a new oath to the voters in Rochester.
And to tell the voters in Rochester as ray Scott tells them on
the ad -- when I, john parrinello says something, you take it
to the bank.
Because I will do it.
>> Mr. Duffy, one minute.
>> I think a number of issues in my life.
First of all, in my career, I have faced a lot of adversity in
the decisions I've made and decisions I've faced both in life
threatening situations on the street as well as inside as a
command officer and making decisions that were not popular but
were right.
And that's never in any way stopped me from making those
decisions doing what is right in a personal level during this
campaign.
Long campaign, eight months.
My wife lost her brother during this campaign.
My mother went to a nursing home, suffers from dementia.
My oldest daughter went off to college.
And my wife certainly at this point has a health issue with her
back.
Number of things that come up in the family during this that
have been challenging.
But I've always said, as many challenges as I've had, I've had
a strong network in my family, with my friends, that work us
through that.
And the one thing that I have a reputation for is facing
adversity and never changing.
I don't think anyone has seen my demeanor change in this
campaign anytime or in my career.
>> some people in this community who are gay or lesbian choose
to be invisible to because it's safer.
I was open about who I am because I wanted to change opinions
about folk who is were like me.
I had guns pointed at me.
I received death threats at my home.
Over the years, I've had -- I've suffered job discrimination,
physical violence, people have spit on me.
People have vandalized my car and my home.
And, yet, I have continued and walk away from those even though
it feels like they're personally targeted at me often comes
from a sense of ignorance and a sense of people trying to lash
out at people like me, not at me personally.
I don't get knocked down easily.
And I can tell you that because of those experiences, I have a
much deeper appreciation for people who are either prejudged or
invisible in the society.
And that sort of affinity, I think, is what I will fwroing the
mayor's office.
>> You have 30 seconds to wrap this question up.
>> You took a shot at me about changing personalities because I
did start off strong but you didn't appreciate the fact that I
did apologize to you.
So, you, it's the message and the messenger.
Tell you about the Duffy messenger.
In 1985 to 1992, he lived in fairport, he only came back to
become deputy chief.
That's the only reason he's sitting here today.
And he was a Republican, became a blank, and turned to the
democrat to become chief.
The messenger sitting next to me is not the person that you all
think he is.
>> OK.
I'm going to give you a lightning round question.
Basically what -- yeah, I know, sounds a little like a game
show.
Sorry about that.
Roughly I'll give you a minute to go.
Everybody gets a minute to answer this question.
I'll start -- the going this way with Mr. Duffy.
In a minute, will you keep the support for the expenses in high
falls?
>> High falls an opportunity to look at private sector
development.
The city has put in plenty of money over the years.
I look at the sections that are in the private sector.
I will put private sector developers, successful business
developers in, develop that plan, and have it driven by the
private sector, not city taxpayers.
>> Mr. Parrinello?
High falls?
>> No.
I will not put a penny in high falls.
That has been this administration's -- mayor johnson, another
terrible business plan.
Not one more penny to high falls.
All that money will go to the crescent and I will attempt to
privatize high falls.
It's been a complete disaster.
>> Actually, I think high falls has had some success, but it's
had a disproportionate investment of city dollars to get
there.
I don't think it requires that anymore.
The one piece where there should be city investment in high
falls or in any other place has to do with the parking
situation.
If there is a parking garage built with municipal dollars, the
expansion of that or controls of any other parking that makes
that area work is a city responsibility and shouldn't be
shirked.
>> We'll be a little shorter.
We went wrong with the questions.
I don't know why I closed that in there.
We have to go shorter on the closing statements.
A minute or so, the closing statements.
Mr. Mains, you have the closing statement.
>> Throughout my career, I have been direct and forthright.
I've told you what I believe.
I believe that someone who runs for office ought to tell you
what they're going do when they get elected.
I tried to do that tonight and for the last nine months.
I hope you noticed that I have and the leading candidates on
that particular standard has not.
I also have talked about the solutions in two levels, both the
direct things we need to do immediately and the long-term
things we need to do, the pioneer tax plan and the Rochester
children's initiative to get to the real core, the underpinning
of what we need to change to make our community successful.
I believe that those are critical and important steps to
improve our city.
Now a lot of people with a whole lot of money have lined up
behind bob Duffy.
You can follow the crowd or you can decide for yourself --
that's the beauty of our democracy.
You see, you get to decide who is going to be the next mayor.
You get to decide what the values are that you need to install
city hall come January.
If you agree with me that the core issues need to be addressed
and if you believe that the proposals I put on this table are
important, the only way to make sure they happen is to vote for
me next Tuesday on November 8.
I'm the democrat running on the working family's line, line e.
Thanks.
>> Mr. Parrinello, about a minute.
>> I'm john parrinello -- I'm running on the Republican line.
But I want to tell you I'm not under anybody's control.
I'm completely on my own.
And that is not to denigrate the Republican party, but just to
make it clear, ladies and gentlemen.
Frederick Alexander will be the centerpiece in the crime area.
Operation law and order will be expanded.
I will restore neighborhood precincts.
I will support alternate lead paint poison legislation.
I will take down boarded houses or rehabilitate them at a
faster rate than they have been.
I'll eliminate teenage pregnancies, not me, not now.
I will audit all M.B.N. grants, I will create a noncriminal
addiction program.
And I will create a parental responsibility program.
In addition to that, job preferences will go to city
residents.
Ladies and gentlemen, out there, voters, and nonvoters, when I
get to city hall, it will be action, not empty promises or
studies or the committees.
I will hit the street running January 2.
>> Thank you, mike.
I appreciate the opportunity to come here.
I want to thank the community for all of their support.
With the primary in September and I ask for your vote on
November 8.
I've spent 28.5 years serving this community.
I've run a major organization and managed a budget of $63
million, $850 person department.
I have C.E.O. experience.
I failed this community in good times and in bad.
I always told you the truth.
I have a passion for this city.
This is not a newfound passion for this campaign.
This is things in this campaign I've done throughout my
career.
I've been there for this community.
It's not about popularity or message.
The support I've received is because I've been there for people
in the city far before any campaign.
Please pay close attention to what's said here.
What I have not done is run a negative campaign.
I've not felt a need to denigrate any one of my opponents.
I've not felt a need to go after anyone because the message is
what I can do to build up Rochester.
If you -- you don't build something up by tearing something
down.
I'm clear on my position on that.
That is the future.
Every word I've walked in from Rochester on this campaign, I've
come with the next mayor and for the future.
The people in this city do have hope, they do have optimism.
They are ready to come together and unite .
that is what I will bring As mayor.
It's about leadership, it's about consistency.
I would also ask, don't vote based on what they say they will
do.
Vote Bailesed on what they have done.
Appreciate your support on November 8.
>> Our debate is complete.
In two days, we at the poll wills be opening for the voter who
is will choose -- to occupy city hall and the county office
building and various town halls and area courtrooms.
Thank you for joining us.
Good night.
>> This voice of the voter presentation has been a production
of wxxi public broadcasting.