SOUTHWEST TRIBUNE

Since taking office in 2014 and beginning a second term in 2018, Mayor Lovely Warren’s administrative agenda has been focused on creating more jobs, safer and more vibrant neighborhoods and improving educational opportunities for Rochester’s citizens.

During her freshman year as mayor, the underlying chatter was apparent from individuals who questioned her political acumen, but the ‘proof is in the pudding

Four years into the job, Warren's record is littered with accomplishments that has stemmed transformational changes, beginning with how the city operates

Warren's ‘residents first’ approach has created programs that has fostered pathways to broaden its reach among residents, allowing greater access to financial resources, along with educational and employment opportunities, who would otherwise fall victim to Red tape, “an official routine or behavior marked by excessive complexity; especially in public business, which results in delay or inaction.”

Her 'resident first' approach is Warren's path to fulfilling her administrative agenda to create more jobs, safer and more vibrant neighborhoods and improving educational opportunities for Rochester’s citizens.

The daughter of an immigrant and granddaughter of a sharecropper, Mayor Warren is a firm believer in the concepts of human rights and social justice and works to maintain the legacy established by Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass and many others.

Warren is committed to achieving these objectives without placing an undue burden on city taxpayers through strong fiscal management and financial stewardship. Under her leadership Rochester has achieved two Wall Street bond-rating upgrades, which save taxpayers’ money through reduced interest payment and maintained the highest bond ratings among New York’s largest cities outside New York City.

Here are just a few of Mayor Warren’s accomplishments toward these objectives.

Creating More Jobs

Bringing down barriers to employment:

Closing the transportation gaps through rideshare, bikeshare and vanpool;

Closing the “middle skills gap” with programs such as the Young Adults Manufacturer Training Employment Program, and the Rochester Environmental Jobs (REJob) training program;

Innovative investments in people, including Kiva crowdfunded microloans;

Supports the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative;

Created Office of Community Wealth Building to help city residents build personal wealth and achieve equal pay for equal work.

Completed major capital-improvement projects to attract job creators

Inner Loop East transformation public construction;

Midtown Commons revitalization;

Port of Rochester Marina construction;

Public Market expansion.

Initiated discussions and processes on next round of major capital-improvement projects

Inner Loop North transformation;

Inner Loop East private development;

ROC the Riverway;

Golisano Entertainment Complex at Midtown Commons.

Supports the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative

Helped launch Rochester’s first non-profit Market Driven Community Cooperative Corp. (worker-owned, cooperative business) and roll out its first business, ENEROC, which provides employees with living wages and equity.

Released the Wage Disparities study in Monroe County, showing that minorities are over-represented in Monroe County’s lowest paying and largest industries. Mayor Warren is calling on business and community leaders to help find ways to bring pay equity to the workforce, starting with the healthcare industry.

Safer Neighborhoods

Brought crime rates to a 30-plus year low;

Restored neighborhood-based Police Patrol Sections;

Launched Police Body Worn Camera Program;

Adopted “Blueprint for Engagement” to improve Police-Community relations;

Majority of new police recruits hired during Mayor Warren’s tenure have been women or minorities;

Rochester Fire Department achieved Class 1 designation from the Insurance Services Organization, which reduces property-insurance rates for businesses and homeowners;

Restored a true Rochester Fire Department Community Outreach Unit, with a full-time firefighter dedicated to providing fire safety and fire prevention information.

More Vibrant Neighborhoods:

Unprecedented investments in long-neglected neighborhoods:

Bull's Head;

Dewey Avenue and Driving Park;

North Hudson Avenue;

JOSANA.

Reorganized Department of Neighborhood and Business Development to increase focus on long-range planning and customer service.

Appointed Daisy Rivera Algarin as the new Director of Neighborhood Service Centers. Algarin works to make the City’s Neighborhood Service Centers more focused on customer service and quality of life;

Created Office of Planning to monitor physical, economic and social factors that affect the quality of life in Rochester. This Office was instrumental in developing the ROC the Riverway proposal and is developing the City’s new Comprehensive Plan - “Rochester 2034.”

Adopted Climate Action Plan to preserve Rochester’s environment for future generations. The plan is the guiding document for many City projects and initiatives that seek to reduce Rochester’s greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030.

Educational Opportunities

Eliminated library fines for children’s books;

Distributed thousands of free books to city children;

Helped Rochester City Schools increase Pre-K enrollment by 1,200 percent;

Increased educational programing in City libraries and R-Centers.

Social Justice and Human Rights

Reaffirmed Rochester’s Sanctuary City status;

Extended transgender medical benefits to City employees;

Adopted “Ban the Box” ordinance to prohibit employers from inquiring about criminal convictions of job applicants on a job application form or during the initial application process and prior to the end of the first interview;

Launched program to pay all full-time and part-time equivalent City employees a living wage of $15 an hour by 2020.

Fiscal Management

Achieved two Wall Street bond-rating upgrades, which save taxpayers’ money through reduced interest payments;

Maintained highest bond ratings among New York’s largest cities outside New York City;

Reduced tax rates for homeowners in the Fiscal Year 2016/17 and 2017/18 budgets.

These are Warren's headline accomplishments that are measurements to allow 'You' the residents to grade her first term.