The Next Meeting of the Monroe County Legislature will be
TUESDAY - September 14, 2010 - 6 P.M. - Legislative Chambers
All meetings are open to the public, recorded and then later published online on the County's Website.
To view the September 2010 monthly proposed legislation, click HERE.
To sign up to speak at public forum, please contact the Clerk of the Legislature's Office at (585) 753-1950.
The 2010 Directory is Here. Click HERE to Request Your Copy!
Breaking News from the Democratic Caucus
Democrats Call for Tougher LDC Law: Require 2/3 vote to create; Tighten oversight of $224 million public safety contract
Rochester, New York – August 9, 2010: Democrats in the Monroe County Legislature introduced proposals to boost taxpayer oversight of a $224 million public safety communications contract with M3SLDC and require a two-thirds majority vote to authorize the creation of any new Local Development Corporation (LDC).
Under current practice, the County Executive can establish a Local Development Corporation which can then borrow tens of millions of dollars for public projects with no real oversight—whereas borrowing by Monroe County is subjected to a two-thirds majority vote in the legislature. Requiring a two-thirds vote in the County Legislature to create an LDC will guarantee an increased level of scrutiny and deliberation of its viability for county projects and potential costs. Please find this proposal attached.
The LDC known as M3SLDC, short for Monroe Safety and Security Systems LDC, was put in place under the premise it would be eligible for special financing under the ARRA and that it would be able to facilitate the rapid installation of a interoperable public safety communications system.
One year later, the anticipated special financing has not been used and no communication equipment has been purchased. To address these and other concerns, Democrats have proposed contractual amendments that would allow legislators to cancel any contract for failure of performance or default, require M3S and any subcontractors to follow public bidding laws and require M3S to file annual financial statements with the Legislature. Please also find this proposal attached.
Democratic Leader Harry Bronson (D-Rochester) said, “These proposals will go a long way toward ensuring taxpayers get what they paid for under the terms that the LDC was set up. Time and again we’ve been told not to worry, everything is proceeding according to schedule, but now we’ve recently learned that the M3SLDC won’t be providing our law enforcement officers with new equipment for almost a decade. That flies in the face of what we were told when the Republican urgently rushed this proposal through the legislature using the guise of needing to use stimulus authorized borrowing and getting equipment in the officers’ hands.”
Legislator Ted O’Brien (D-Irondequoit) said, “The time for us to act is now, before another LDC is set up. It’s time to be proactive instead of reacting to some new allegation of waste or abuse. These proposals will be useful tools for this legislature and, more importantly, for future legislators who will need all the information they can get. This is a long-term solution to a foreseeable problem and we shouldn’t pass this opportunity up.”
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Lightfoot Announces New Educational Opportunity for Residents
Jefferson Avenue Revive Education Initiative Introduced
Rochester, New York – July 26, 2010: Monroe County Legislator Willie Joe Lightfoot (D-Rochester), in conjunction with Monroe Community College, the Rochester Educational Opportunity Center (REOC) and community leaders, is very proud to announce the Jefferson Avenue Revive Education Initiative, or JAREI, a new component to the Jefferson Avenue Revitalization Project. JAREI is a collaborative effort to get young adults off the streets and put them into classrooms and jobs.
“If the statistics show that the people dropping out of school are the ones committing the crimes in our community, then there should be GED programs on every corner,” said Legislator Lightfoot. “To that end, we will be partnering with community leaders to make as many resources available as possible to get people off the streets and out of the unemployment lines.”
The comprehensive JAREI program aims to help citizens in the community get their GED by employing a person-centered approach. Many resources are already available through numerous agencies; JAREI will offer mentoring for applicants to help focus resources to ensure long-term success. MCC has collaborated with JAREI and the REOC to provide a monetary and educational pathway directly from REOC to MCC, which may include admissions assistance at MCC and scholarships for those that qualify.
On Saturday, August 7th, the REOC will host a GED Assessment Project (GAP) event where those interested in getting their GED can be evaluated to see how ready they may be to take the exam. Based on the evaluation results, REOC Admissions Advisors will either schedule an individual to take the GED examination or will recommend free preparation classes for those that need further assistance.
Those ready to take the GED examination may schedule a time to take the test at the REOC, which is an official GED Examination test site. Upon completing the exam, applicants may be eligible to take vocational training in any of the thirteen programs offered by the REOC, free of charge. Those interested in this session of GAP must register with REOC by calling (585) 232-2730, extension 235, before August 7th.
Lightfoot Proposal Leads to Farmers’ Market Permit Reforms
Rochester, New York – May 11, 2010. Monroe County Legislator Willie Lightfoot (D-Rochester) announced today that his proposal to reduce county permit fees for local Farmers’ Market vendors has led to a bipartisan introduction.
For more than six months, Legislator Lightfoot has been working with local market organizers to reach a solution to the problem concerning the unnecessarily high fee structure. These discussions will continue while the current proposal goes through the committee process, where further revisions are expected based on feedback from market organizers.
“I am pleased the discussion about reforming this cost-prohibitive permitting process is moving forward, but I am hoping that my colleagues will be open to further compromise and agree to take the fee schedule lower. I will do all that I can to grow businesses in our community,” said Legislator Lightfoot. “Small businesses participating in local farmers’ markets should not have to pay more than Rochester’s finest 5-star restaurants for a simple health department permit.”
“The Westside Farmers Market has been working on this for months and is pleased that the Legislature is making an effort to address this problem. However, we are still not where we need to be. We will continue to work with the Legislature to come to an amicable solution” said Jackie Farrell, organizer of the WestsideFarmers Market.
In March 2010, Legislator Lightfoot proposed reducing fees for Farmers’ Market permits. Legislator Lightfoot and Democratic Caucus members are pleased that their Republican colleagues announced their support just this week.
Please find the bipartisan proposal by clicking here.
Democrats Call for Vote on Proposal to Reduce the Size of the County Legislature
Rochester, New York – April 13, 2010. Democrats in the County Legislature today offered the GOP a final chance to approve a proposal to reduce the size of the Legislature from 29 to 15 members, saving more than one million dollars over just the first two years. The proposal calls for a public referendum to take place in November 2010. The offer was rejected by the GOP on a straight party line vote.
Legislator Vincent Esposito (D-Irondequoit) said, “Taxpayers have made it clear they want to see real spending cuts. Conservative estimates showed a minimum of one million dollars in recurring savings that would have begun to chip away at the massive structural deficit looming over the next 2 years – without adversely impacting public services. I am truly disappointed that my Republican colleagues did not support this cost saving measure.”
Democratic Leader Harry Bronson (D-Rochester, Brighton & Henrietta) said, “This proposal was a win-win for taxpayers in our County. We provided our Republican colleagues with well over a month to consider this cost savings proposal, yet they still refused to put partisanship aside and let Monroe County voters decide the proposal’s ultimate fate. Our community certainly deserves better than that.”
The proposal would have brought Monroe County in line with peer counties in terms of the number of constituents per legislative district. Currently there are about 25,000 people living in each district, whereas Monroe’s peer counties average slightly more than 50,000 per district. After enactment, Monroe would have had roughly 50,000 people living in each district.
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