POLITICS: On mayoral control and party bosses

POLITICS: On mayoral control and party bosses
on July 6, 2010

by THOMAS BRENNAN, ROCHESTER

http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/news/letters/2010/07/POLITICS-On-m...

I take strong public exception to recent essays by the publisher of this newspaper, whom I esteem. Ms. Towler conveys misguided notions of "stability" that reflect a fear of the refreshing effect of, and creative solutions that emerge from, a healthy and competitive democratic process. That goes for public school governance and selection of a mayor.

The mayor has every right to seek new ventures. We should wish him well. Mayoral control advocates have leaned heavily on the cult of Bob Duffy, exactly because their arguments are so weak. Only 17 percent of city school funds derive from the city tax levy. It was almost twice that not long ago. Fiscal independence for the district would address this matter.

City Council already votes on the school budget. The city resists school district proposals for information sharing and other cooperation. Nothing about the peccadilloes of City Council (or Albany) suggests that, pound for pound, they are any less "dysfunctional" than elected school boards. The most notably dysfunctional school commissioner, Cynthia Elliott, was supported by mayoral control advocates and supports mayoral control herself. Go figure.

It was an elected board that appointed the superintendents that mayoral control advocates say they support. Mayoral control advocates are long on reciting problems and short on proposing solutions or doing the heavy lifting that leads to solutions. Mayoral control is NOT about helping kids. It is about purely political agendas. Our local history with appointed boards - the Water Authority scandals, the MCC leadership-search gong show - is not a happy one.

Most important, the plain fact is that mayoral control does not boost student performance. The urban districts with the best graduation rates have elected boards. Mayor Duffy himself was elected on a pledge to oppose mayoral control. He was reelected scoffing at evidence that his mind had changed. Similarly, Ms. Towler now finds merit in tired old arguments for mayoral control which she had wisely dismissed for decades.

Bill Cala has skillfully debunked the case for this assault on the voting rights of a predominantly minority electorate. I would venture that Cala is every bit as trusted by the public in education matters as any mayor.

Ms. Towler's hope that a party boss will rescue us from the democratic process in the selection of a new mayor is consistent with her support for mayoral control. Party Chair Joe Morelle is not even a city resident. I have been a local Democratic Committee volunteer for 30 plus years. Morelle is the most divisive chair I have served under. No chair since Watergate had a stronger hand to play than Morelle, or played it with less grace or skill.

The tactics of many mayoral control advocates reflect neither the monopoly on courage they claim nor respect for civility. This includes Morelle's suggestion that vandalism at MCDC offices was the work of mayoral control opponents (when it was national news that far-Right extremists unhappy with the new health care law had taken "credit" for this), David Gantt's greeting mayoral control opponents at his office with profane abuse, and Ms. Towler's likening mayoral control opponents to "tea partiers."

We should not elect the mayor because the commotion might upset developers? Please.

By the time this appears, we may know whether mayoral control will pass this legislative session. In any case, neither side will cease making its case. With feelings running so strongly, how we treat each other in the discussion is crucial.

The tragedy is that, while oligarchs may maneuver to handpick the next mayor, who will chloroform democratic process in the public schools, neither that mayor nor mayoral control will have legitimacy vital to success. Backroom fixes, whether in Rochester or Albany, are no substitute for informed public scrutiny and consent. Such maneuvers invite mutual contempt, mistrust, and yes, instability.

THOMAS BRENNAN, ROCHESTER

Brennan is a former Rochester school board member.