City School Board member Cynthia Elliott. FILE PHOTO
Just days away from the election, a newly formed organization called Rochester's Future is supporting City School Board member Tom Brennan's effort to save his seat through a write-in ballot. The move puts him in direct confrontation with fellow Board member Cynthia Elliott, who has the Democratic Party's endorsement.
Though write-in campaigns are notoriously iffy, Elliott's bawdy behavior, which was caught on video, seems to have created the last-minute opportunity for Brennan, who lost a bid this year for a seat on City Council. The controversy around Elliott's language has raised questions about her leadership skills, and the Democratic Party's wheeling and dealing.
"We need to show Cynthia that a primary win is not a license to misbehave," says School Board member Willa Powell. "And if she wants to continue along the path she's on, we'll file a complaint with the state education commissioner. If voters only knew how she behaves, they would never have elected her in the first place."
Mayor Bob Duffy, who has been questioned by the media regarding his endorsement of Elliott, said in a written statement that he is not withdrawing that endorsement. (Duffy's complete statement is below). Much of Duffy's statement is a blistering criticism of the School Board, the district's poor graduation rate, and the cost burden the district places on city taxpayers.
He also says that he fully supports Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard, an odd twist since Elliott has been a constant critic of the superintendent and recently sought his resignation.
Statement by Mayor Duffy on Cynthia Elliot endorsement
I have been asked by members of the media in the past few days whether I am going to withdraw my support of Cynthia Elliot in her re-election bid for the Rochester City School Board due to her use of profane language at a recent school board meeting. The answer is "no." I stand by my endorsement of Cynthia. That being said, I do not condone the use of such language - either publically or privately. That sort of language has no place in public discourse, much less at a meeting of educators. I reject such vulgarity and have said so to Cynthia.
My support of Cynthia Elliot remains because I know that her entire focus since joining the school board is on children and their educational success. While others may worry more about adults, elections and special interests, it is clear to me that Cynthia is driven by concern for our kids and not politics. The attacks on her now seem to be more about political endorsements and promoting other candidates than about what truly matters - the success of our children and graduation rates.
While others are scoring political points on Cynthia's use of obscenities, what is really obscene is spending $23,000 per student and having more than half of them fail to graduate. What is truly obscene is that 73 cents of every city property tax dollar - more than $119 million - is mandated to be paid to the school district without any City oversight whatsoever. An educational system that puts adults, jobs and politics ahead of student performance - that's obscene.
We are in the midst of a terrible economic crisis and the City is bracing for a mid-year budget cut in excess of $7 million and a structural shortfall next year in the tens of millions. One of the biggest challenges we face is our schools. Most of the people committing crimes in our city are high school dropouts and we continue to produce more dropouts than graduates.
I fully support Superintendent Jean Claude Brizard, who must deal with the educational failures of our system in the midst of all of this political wrangling. This must change. He deserves a board that is focused on improving education and not on political grandstanding.
While I am extremely disappointed in the language used by Cynthia Elliot and I recognize that it sets a bad example, I know what is in her heart. She cares about the well-being and educational success of our children. I would only hope that those who have spent so much time and effort demonizing Cynthia would spend more time on what is really important - graduation rates and success in school for our children.
Comments for "Brennan launches last-minute bid to save School Board seat; Duffy comes out swinging" (4)
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Willa Powell said on Oct. 30, 2009 at 2:09pm
My first reaction was to feel sorry for the mayor, because Cynthia Elliott put him in the untenable position of either supporting wrong-doing or throwing his allies “under the bus”.
But then I read the faulty arguments he used to defend Cynthia and attack the rest of the Board. Let us, for the sake of argument, stipulate that she is also more concerned about our financial health (and “overspending”) than the rest of us. Why, then, did Cynthia present the Board with a policy that lacked specific policy language, lacked a cost analysis, and failed to consider how the district would fund a proposal that had not been budgeted? The ball-park cost of her proposal (to bus all children from K-5) is $10 million, and is not reimbursable by the state. The mayor rightly points out that the District stands to lose $7-8million. At this point in the school year, contracts have been signed and the vast majority of the District’s money is already committed. Where is the fiscal due-diligence Cynthia is always talking about?
Let’s start with his premise that she is acting out of concern the children and the improvement of our schools â€" and that the rest of us are not. The District adopted a School Choice policy a while back. That policy allows parents to choose any school they want for their child (within zones) for whatever reasons they want. Parents choose a school because it has a strong academic record, because it is perceived to be safe, because friends and neighbors attend, and â€" yes â€" because they want their child to ride a bus, and sending them to school 1.5 miles away will accomplish that objective. But Cynthia Elliott opposes School Choice, and thinks that families should attend their neighborhood school. How is it that Cynthia “cares about the well-being and educational success of our children” more than the parents who are making school choice decisions for their children right now, that she would eliminate the very choices that allow parents to put their children on buses right now?
The mayor accuses Cynthia’s opponents of “scoring political points”. I saw a policy resolution brought to the Board two weeks before the election, instead of months ago through the Policy Committee, which she chairs. I saw an effort to box the Board into a false choice: vote for a policy that we can’t afford, or vote it down so she can accuse us of not caring enough about the children and paint herself as the defender of the weak and helpless. “Driven by concern for our kids and not politics”? Really, Mr. Mayor? You really believe that?
I realize that the mayor’s was presented with false choices as well. He did not have to choose between defending a friend and renouncing bad behavior. (In fact, he did both.) His real choices were to see the whole reality â€" the foolishness of both her words and her deeds â€" and continuing to use the schools district as a punching bag. He choose the latter, throwing out the same tired complaints and cheapening the whole conflict by blaming others of playing politics with our kids.
Willa Powell said on Oct. 30, 2009 at 4:09pm
One additional point I forgot to make...
Still focusing of the actual issues that got buried in the more sensational coverage, isn't it interesting that so long as we are arguing over busing children (for safety reasons), we aren't asking how the city can make our streets safer in the first place?
IRONDEQUOIT the whole town said on Oct. 30, 2009 at 5:38pm
Mayor Duffy will say anything Joe Morelle tells him to say. Mayor Duffy used to have the respect of those in the community and has thrown it all in the dumpster for a few gold stars by the Party leader Joe Morelle. Duffy picks up the phone and lends his photo and endorsement to ANY one Joe Tells him to. It is unfortunate that Duffy has chosen to be nothing more than Joe's puppet and gopher at the snap of a finger.You are such a tool, mayor duffy, and please stay out of Irondequoit. We don't need you sticking your nose into our affairs. I thought you were different from the other slimy politicians, but in the end we all get to see your true colors.
Wanda Howard said on Nov. 01, 2009 at 2:43pm
It is disappointing that the Mayor has become so political. I have to wonder is his support of Elliot based on deals with Gantt. Schools and are city streets will continue to fail, because efforts put forth are disingeniune. They are based on money that doesn't even go to improve neighborhoods or schools. It goes to higher more staff and promoting reports that tell us that are children are violent and streets are not safe. If Duffy got his wish and retained the taxpayer dollars what would he do with it? I doubt if it would be invested in our children and neighborhoods. Maybe some, but the rest would go to build up a project that our children will never be qualified to work in. As a parent I am encouraging my children and grandchildren to move out of Rochester because it does not offer any growth or hope. We have to ask ourselves if the education system and city neighborhood improved how many people would be out of a job? We have some ACORN organizations and politicians right here in Rochester.
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