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Dems vs Dems, locally and nationally
A new candidate, Hilda Rosario Escher, is considering entering the race to unseat Senator Joseph Robach in the 56th New York Senate District. This is occurring despite the fact that a bright, young, and progressive candidate, Jeremy Cooney, achieved a sizable 44 percent of the vote against Robach in 2018 and is making another run for this seat in 2020. In an interview, Escher told the Democrat and Chronicle: “I am not running against anybody. I am just seeking a seat.” She added, “Joe Robach has done amazing work for this community, and he is a friend.” Once people realize how Robach’s voting record was not “amazing work for this community,” however, Jeremy Cooney stands a very good chance of victory. This divisive scenario, unfortunately, is happening not only locally but on the national stage. By dividing the Democratic Party and the principles it stands for, we can almost be assured of defeat. Obviously, Escher wants to play nicely 2 CITY
AUGUST 14 - 20, 2019
in the sandbox with Robach. This will not serve us well if you are concerned about public health, gun safety, and marriage equality, among other important issues. While Robach did vote in favor of prohibiting the declawing of pussy cats, a brief look at his voting record shows he voted against: Protecting women’s rights in having a voice about their own health and family planning, prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity or expression, permitting people to marry those they love, tightening up background checks for gun ownership, increasing renewable energy goals, protecting rent control as people are priced out of the rental market, and eliminating religious exemptions for vaccines. While he might be everyone’s “friend,” Robach’s voting record belies his concern for the rights and safety of individuals. For a potential opponent to say “he’s done amazing work for the community” makes little sense to me. I realize that politics is full of quid pro quo’s and often comes down to funding of everyone’s pet projects and, above all, the optics and photo-ops that come with these awards. But it’s also about how one votes when the proverbial rubber hits the road. This is what really affects us as citizens. We need fresh ideas that promote individual freedoms and make our community a better place to live. Complimentary comments about our opponents do not serve us well. SANFORD J. MAYER, ROCHESTER
News. Music. Life. Greater Rochester’s Alternative Newsweekly August 14 - 20, 2019 Vol 48 No 49 On the cover: Photograph by Jacob Walsh 250 North Goodman Street Rochester, New York 14607-1199 themail@rochester-citynews.com phone (585) 244-3329 fax (585) 244-1126 rochestercitynewspaper.com Publisher: Rochester Area Media Partners, Norm Silverstein, chairman. William and Mary Anna Towler, founders Editor: Mary Anna Towler Editorial department themail@rochester-citynews.com Arts & entertainment editor: Rebecca Rafferty Staff writers: Tim Louis Macaluso, Jeremy Moule Music editor: Daniel J. Kushner Music writer: Frank De Blase Calendar editor: Kate Stathis Contributing writers: Rachel Crawford, Roman Divezur, Katie Halligan, Adam Lubitow, Ron Netsky, Katie Preston, David Raymond, Leah Stacy, Chris Thompson, Hassan Zaman Art department artdept@rochester-citynews.com Art director/Production manager: Ryan Williamson Designers: Renée Heininger, Jacob Walsh Advertising department ads@rochester-citynews.com Sales manager: Alison Zero Jones Account executives: Betsy Matthews, William Towler, David White Classified sales representatives: Tracey Mykins Operations/Circulation kstathis@rochester-citynews.com Business manager: Angela Scardinale Circulation manager: Katherine Stathis Distribution: David Riccioni, Northstar Delivery City Newspaper is available free of charge. Additional copies of the current issue may be purchased for $1 each at the City Newspaper office. City Newspaper may be distributed only by authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of City Newspaper, take more than one copy of each weekly issue. City (ISSN 1551-3262) is published weekly 50 times minimum per year by by Rochester Area Media Partners, a subsidiary of WXXI Public Broadcasting. Periodical postage paid at Rochester, NY (USPS 022-138). Address changes: City, 250 North Goodman Street, Rochester, NY 14607. Member of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies and the New York Press Association. Annual subscriptions: $35 ($30 senior citizens); add $10 for out-of-state subscriptions. Refunds for fewer than ten months cannot be issued. Copyright by Rochester Area Media Partners, 2019 - all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, photocopying, recording or by any information storage retrieval system without permission of the copyright owner. @ROCCITYNEWS