[ NEWS FROM THE WEEK PAST ]
Police reorg
A plan to increase the number police patrol divisions should be ready for implementation soon, says Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren. The city has two divisions, and Warren says she wants at least four. Warren has talked about the need to increase police presence in the neighborhoods to fight crime and to build trust between police and city residents. The method of paying for the reorganization will be determined in the planning process, says a city press release.
Ethics board to examine hire
Mayor Lovely Warren’s hire of her uncle, Reggie Hill, to lead her security team will be reviewed by the city’s Board of Ethics. City Council President Loretta Scott, who is also on the ethics board, says the board will examine whether Hill’s hire violates the city’s nepotism policy. Meanwhile, Hill was suspended and fined by the city’s deputy mayor for twice exceeding the speed limit while driving the mayor. He has apologized.
Big money
News
A new report from Common Cause/NY says that between 2007 and July 2013, pro-fracking companies and groups contributed $15.4 million to political committees and spent $48.9 million on lobbying, while fracking opponents spent $1.9 million on political contributions and $5.4 million on lobbying.
EDUCATION | BY TIM LOUIS MACALUSO
Tensions rise between Vargas and principals
Gambling losses
The No More Casinos Coalition made its public debut, though it had already been working behind the scenes to oppose a possible Seneca Nation of Indians casino in the Rochester region. The coalition is organized by Finger Lakes Gaming and Racing and Batavia Downs’ owner, Western Regional Off-Track Betting. Bill Johnson, former Rochester mayor, is a member of the coalition.
Murphy out
Anita Murphy, deputy superintendent of the Rochester school district, will leave the district when her contract expires in June. Superintendent Bolgen Vargas hired Murphy last year and she has been a strong and outspoken member of his senior management team.
Administrators and principals are taking a no-confidence vote on Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas this week. PHOTO BY MARK CHAMBERLIN
Averting a battle between city schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas and the district’s principals and administrators just jumped to the top of the school board’s priorities list. The Association of Supervisors and Administrators of Rochester, which is the union representing nearly 400 city school principals and administrators, has decided to pursue a no-confidence vote against Vargas. ASAR members will receive their ballots this week and the results should be revealed soon. A vote of no confidence could cause irreparable damage to the superintendent. Principals say they’re upset because Vargas isn’t communicating a clear strategy to improve student performance. He’s given them goals that aren’t accompanied by a path to attain them, they say. And he’s unapologetically withholding tenure for many principals. Vargas has been almost awkwardly candid about the management problems he says he’s faced over some pretty basic issues such as taking attendance and reserving parking for parents.
Extensive interview with
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In a recent interview, a visibly annoyed Vargas talked about the ASAR contract, which he inherited from a previous administration. The contract is stacked, he said, with constraints that obscure accountability at a time when it’s most needed. The district’s culture has to become more responsive and customer-driven, Vargas said. Even though a no-confidence vote is largely symbolic, the message it would send would be noxious enough to harm the whole district. Board president Van White said he plans to facilitate a relationshipbuilding meeting between Vargas and ASAR President Deborah Rider as soon as possible. And he said the differences between the principals and Vargas can be resolved. White said he wants to avoid a standoff like the one between Rochester Teachers Association President Adam Urbanski and former Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard, which contributed to Brizard’s abrupt departure from the district.
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MAYOR LOVELY WARREN JAN. 29