Hairy Situation At Mayor's Ball

YNN article and video.

(Check out the young adult behind Pavone at around the :39 mark of the video. He wipes his nose, checks his hand for the offending booger, then strikes a pose. So funny.)



More than 200 protesters were outside of the Rochester Riverside Convention Center on Saturday night to protest Mayoral Control of the RCSD.


While the Mayor was holding his big ball, the protesters went across the street to hold their own little ball at the Radison.

Both balls were blue, seeing as they were attended by many Democrats - and they all seemed pretty happy to be holding balls simultaneously.

But, that didn't stop the Mayor from handing out a tongue lashing at his ball.

"If this is going to be a stare down contest, I'm not going to blink," said Duffy, "Maybe some of the kids and parents who might listen, maybe they should protest schools and classrooms and protest some of our labor leaders out here who, quite frankly, are very concerned with their own interests, but not with the interests of kids,"

"I think the police union and fire union presidents should be ashamed of themselves. Three cops shot in the last year by high school dropouts, a fire union president who's biggest act in the last year was to stop the practice of opening up hydrants for our city kids in tough neighborhoods on hot days," said Duffy,

"I don't need hundreds of people behind me. I'll look 'em right in the eye, and you want to fight this issue, you better bring a lunch".


Yeah! Bring a lunch, you ball bashers! You can't make the Mayor sweat at his own ball - no matter how much you try to make this a sticky issue! He'll look you right in the eye - and tell you to bring a lunch.

You hear that, unions? Bring. Your. Lunch. Turkey on rye, pastrami, heck...even a tuna sandwich. You'd better bring it. (And some chips and a pickle too please.)

While I do agree that the unions are in this for their own self interests, I don't necessarily believe that they are wrong at this point in time for protesting this issue.

The Mayor has not brought forth any substantial plans, has not held any public meetings to discuss this issue, and has not engaged the community in this at all.

I honestly believe that this whole "Mayoral Control" is a money grab - and - I also honestly believe that this may not be such a bad thing.

If Mayor Duffy can redirect funds to where they are needed the most, instead of paying for bloated administrations, board trips/conferences etc. - then I don't have a problem with that.

I believe the City of Rochester is mandated to provide $119 million to the RCSD, with no oversight or say in how it's spent.

My question is: If the Mayor is successful in taking over the RCSD, will he still provide the full ($119 million) mandated amount to the RCSD, or will he redirect some of those funds to other departments in the City?

I would not agree with that.

Again, I don't know because the Mayor has not held a public meeting to answer anyone's questions.

I know one thing for sure - the "adults" in this situation are the only ones I've heard from on this issue. Both sides have representation - Unions on one side/Albany Democrats on the other.

What representation do the kids of the RCSD have? Where is their voice? What are their ideas and concerns? Has anyone thought of organizing a bunch of students to represent THEIR best interests?

The sad part in all of this is - both sides need each other for their agendas. The Dems need the unions for their influence, campaign contributions, votes, and work they do for the party - the unions need the Dems to get in office and pass laws that benefit them - and the students in the RCSD are left somewhere in the middle of this political battle of wills.

Sad.