MAYORAL SUCCESSION: LOCAL LABOR LEADERS SEND A MESSAGE



Jim Bertolone addresses the media
at a press conference in 2009.
photo by Ove Overmyer

 Rochester, N.Y.-- Rochester labor leaders today added their voice to those opposing a special election to select the city’s next mayor, advocating instead for an appointment allowing voters to head to the polls in the fall.  CSEA represents hundreds of workers who are employed at the Rochester Public Library.

Lt. Gov.-elect Mayor Robert Duffy will leave office at year’s end to join the incoming Cuomo administration in Albany. City Council is charged with deciding how to fill the position and has the choice of a special election in the spring or a one-year appointed mayor with a general election in the fall to decide who completes Duffy’s term.

The Rochester and Vicinity Labor Council, AFL-CIO executive board approved a resolution this week that “opposes the holding of a special election in the interest of a more open and democratic process,” reads a statement released today by the Rochester Labor Council.

“We are concerned that the citizens of Rochester have an adequate opportunity to examine the qualifications, integrity, and vision of any person who seeks to serve as our next mayor.” said Jim Bertolone, president of the Labor Council.

He added, “It is critically important for City Council to avoid any appearance of ‘back room’ dealing in how our next mayor is chosen.”

CSEA will be heavily invested in who becomes the next mayor of the City of Rochester.  The Rochester and Vicinity Labor Council is a coalition of unions in Monroe County representing more than 55,000 workers.