Rochester’s Democratic mayoral candidates clashed over Parcel Five, campaign financing and whether crime in Rochester is up or down during their final debate before next week’s primary election.
Mayor Lovely Warren was challenged over what her opponents call a misuse of her political action committee to finance her campaign. The mayor says her staff made a mistake and put a check in the wrong account, then transferred it to the correct account. That looked like an illegal transfer from her political action committee to her campaign. The mayor said the state has investigated and found she did nothing wrong.
But James Sheppard, who filed a complaint with the state over the transaction that wasn’t upheld, had a different view. He says what happened wasn’t ethical. And Rachel Barnhart accused the mayor of having an illegal mirror campaign account.
Mayor Warren responded by equating Barnhart’s rhetoric with Donald Trump’s attacks on Hillary Clinton…and Barnhart rebutted by demanding to see proof that the State Elections Board had cleared her. The mayor countered by asking if she could collect Barnhart’s delinquent water bill on the spot.
The three Democratic candidates also disagreed sharply over the development of Parcel 5, the last vacant part of the Midtown Site and the place where Mayor Lovely Warren would like to see a performing arts center and residential project.
The mayor says people who criticize her administration for not doing its homework are ignoring the experts she’s consulted…including New York City’s Lincoln Center. She says they concluded a performing arts center would benefit all downtown and the city economy.
But James Sheppard says the mayor has changed her mind repeatedly over the years, with the arts center just the latest concept. He says all stakeholders and developers should meet in public and hash out the best use for the parcel.
And Rachel Barnhart spoke of a “failure of leadership.” She says it wasn’t transparent, and shows the city needs to reform its bidding process.
The primary election between Warren, Sheppard and Barnhart is Tuesday, Noon to 9:00 p.m.