Four Democratic members of the Monroe County legislature have formed their own caucus following the dispute that saw a majority of Democrats say they’ve removed Vince Felder (D-Roch) as leader of the legislature’s Democratic minority.
Legislators Ernest Flagler-Mitchell, Calvin Lee, Sabrina Lamar and Frank Keophetlasy announced the “Black and Asian Economic Caucus,” supporting a progressive agenda they say will fight poverty and lack of opportunity in their Rochester city districts. Flagler-Mitchell says the current minority caucus doesn’t always place the needs of their districts first and made them feel like they were in an abusive relationship. He says they’re spending time arguing over suburban dog parks when services including mental health and Child Protective Services for the most vulnerable have gone unaddressed for 50 years.
Sabrina Lamar said the new caucus will advocate for full implementation of the county’s diversity action plan. That includes an overhaul of how County Social Services deals with mental health and other needs of the community’s most vulnerable. The caucus wants regular reports on progress to the legislature. They also want full funding of county Child Protective Services and for the county to commit to a living wage for its employees. They also want the county’s currently-mothballed fiber optic network to be used to address the digital divide in providing broadband internet access to school children in their city districts.