The City of Rochester Must Stop Genocide
Sometimes folks ask themselves, “What would I have done when Hitler was killing all of those Jews?” Well, now you know. What you’re doing or not doing right now about what is happening in Palestine shows exactly what you would have done in Germany. There are a lot of parallels between what happened there and what is going on in Gaza (and now the West Bank). It’s pretty sad that hundreds of people had to show up to City Council – some refusing to leave – just to get a non-binding resolution passed that was pretty weak.
Like in Apartheid South Africa, a way to help stop the mistreatment of Palestinians on their own land, which has been going on for decades, is to Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS). In fact, Rochester should take a stand against genocide being committed anywhere.
Therefore, as a member of City Council, I will do the following:
1. Propose legislation that changes the City Charter forbidding the City from using taxpayer money to purchase any product or service from any business that supports genocide. This would not only include companies based in other countries, but those originating from the United States.
2. Propose legislation that terminates our Sister City agreement with Rehovot, Israel.
NOTE: I am ethnically Jewish. I am speaking out and acting against genocide, just like we should be doing in Congo, Sudan, and other places in the world in which racism and capitalism are devastating millions of people. Isn’t genocide a bottom line? Shouldn’t that be the one thing we can agree on no matter what our political party, ethnic background, citizenship, etc.?
References:
Walgreens is Closing - This is an Opportunity
[Before you read this, check out the article on Rochesterfirst.com.]
So Walgreens is closing their store in the Bulls Head neighborhood. Here’s what I’m taking from this story: our Mayor is a banker; he’s a capitalist. And yet he is shocked that a national corporation would shut down stores in one of the most depressed parts of our city. They are under a legal obligation to do what’s in the best interest of their shareholders – NOT the City of Rochester. That’s capitalism!
Do you know which pharmacy COULD have the best interests of the City? The pharmacy that is cooperatively owned and run by local residents, preferably those living in the Bulls Head neighborhood.
Most of us, even if we pooled our money, would not have the start-up resources to get this going. Our Mayor in conjunction with City Council could use economic development funds to help get this going, as a no-interest loan &/or a grant. They sell buildings to rich people for $1 all the time. And if Mayor Evans’ letter to the CEO of Walgreens begging him not to close the one store works, you know it will be with a ton of tax breaks.
But do we really expect our Banker Mayor to think of something like this? I know I don’t. But there ARE people who are currently on City Council who I would expect to appreciate what I’m talking about. The question is, are they WILLING to advance this idea? Some of them are up for re-election in 2025.
If they don’t, I will propose this when elected to City Council. With your help, of course.
Housing
[Updated, September 16, 2024] Let’s start with a question. Do you believe that housing is a human right? I say yes. Not only that, I fully believe that nothing that people need to survive should be sold for profit. Food, clothing, shelter, health care, and I’m adding education to that list as well.
People with power decided necessities for profit was appropriate a long time ago and the rest of us have not come together to change this.
Every person in the City of Rochester should have an affordable, accessible, safe place to live, period. We have the empty houses and apartments. We have “zombie properties” that landlords have given up on. The only reason our government allows people to exist in Rochester without a place to live is because. That’s it. Because.
With that, when elected to City Council, I will:
-insist on the use of Eminent Domain to take over abandoned and ignored property, use apprentices working with Union labor to fix such properties, and literally give them to families and individuals who then can focus on other necessities in life. This would be a modern version of homesteading.
-stop the Rochester Housing Authority from privatizing properties in their possession, then fund* public housing projects that may include new housing (which takes an extremely long time), but will initially focus on rehabilitating empty school buildings, warehouses, etc., into such public housing. Some of these properties are already in the City's possession, others can be bought, or again taken over by Eminent Domain. Some of these projects can be used for "person centered housing" in order to alleviate the devastating chronic homelessness we have in our city.
-support legislation that brings strict Good Clause Eviction protection as well as complete rent control within the City of Rochester. (See opening paragraphs)
-propose using City funds and/or find grant money to assist in establishing a non-profit that would use volunteer contractors (retired, et al.) to help city residents in need of upkeep of their house. This has been done in other municipalities – Syracuse had one for years.
-work with City Hall to create a fund to help renters who are in arrears with their rent. There are already non-profits who do this, but they cannot handle the demand. The need for this fund will reduce dramatically once rent control is finalized in Rochester.
-work to create more emergency shelters, particularly for specific groups, i.e., women, LBGTQ+, people in recovery, etc. for the immediate future; particularly in specific areas of the City. It is expected that these eventually will no longer be necessary if the previous items are enacted. But they are needed right now.
-work to have senior citizens who own and live on a property in the City of Rochester and meet specific income requirements (i.e. not having enough income) should be exempt from property taxes. These taxes will be made up by ending corporate welfare (see future platform plank).
-insist that the City government no longer use Monroe County for Area Median Income (AMI) when determining apartments that are “affordable”. This current formula makes a new $1400/month apartment “affordable” even though it truly is not for most who live in Rochester. AMI should be for the City only if the project is being built in the City.
*In 2025, I will be releasing a platform plank that will explain how to pay for these and other ideas. Money will come from reallocation of current wasteful spending, lobbying for changing of Federal and State regulations, more focused grant searches, and an end to corporate welfare.
This is a living document. It will be adjusted and added to as I continue to talk with and learn from others. What do YOU think we should do about housing in Rochester?