Mayoral control: Where Bob Duffy went wrong

Mayoral control: Where Bob Duffy went wrong

By Tim Louis Macaluso

http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/news/blog/2010/07/Mayoral-control-...
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http://www.harrydavis2010.com/node/310
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Mayor Bob Duffy has been chipping away at the mayoral control rock for more than six months, and the issue has bitterly divided the city. Rumors swirl about where the bill stands, and Duffy may still close the deal. But the sharp resistance to mayoral control could have been avoided if Duffy had done the following:

1. Put city residents first: Duffy should have made city residents his most important audience. City residents don't care what folks in Mendon and Penfield think of city schools.

2. Engage the unions: Though difficult to admit, he needed the help of the school district's unions. Demonizing them made his job much harder.

3. Business leaders care about business: Duffy overestimates the public's opinion of business leaders. Business people generally lack credibility with the public. We don't trust business lobbyists in Albany anymore than we trust them in Washington, DC.

4. Stop the hate talk: At times, City Hall's rhetoric against the district has been incredibly harsh. Why would the lack of collaboration surprise anyone?

5. Voting is sacred ground: Concerns in the black community about voting was grossly misunderstood; minimizing its importance was the wrong message. Duffy should have appealed directly to the black community on something so sensitive. Proponents liked to argue that the public could still vote for the mayor. But in Duffy's bid for re-election as mayor, the public didn't know his real position on mayoral control.

6. Don't promise what you can't deliver: Duffy committed to holding public forums. He should have developed his plan first, and followed it with the forums.

7. Don't talk down, talk up: Duffy kept saying mayoral control wasn't about the money, and it wasn't about politics. The public knows it concerns both.

8. Tweaking the facts creates suspicion: For instance, Duffy frequently says New York City's schools have a higher graduation rate. That's true. But a greater percentage of Rochester's students graduate with Regents diplomas, according to state data.

9. The education mayor: Duffy missed the opportunity in his first term to become the education mayor. He could have used his bully pulpit to connect directly with students and parents by becoming an advocate for staying in school, challenging students, and rewarding the ones who cross the finish line. Instead of focusing on the 50 percent of our students who do graduate, he focused on the 50 percent who don't.

10. Stay in Rochester: Duffy said that mayoral control was his cause. Had he kept his focus on being Rochester's mayor, I think he would he would have cinched it.