With regard to Renaissance Square, there has been one report after another about concerns of local politicians and many within the local business community, especially those who stand to gain huge profits. Hardly any information is being reported about the second largest, multimillion-dollar public-works project that is about to shift into high gear in downtown Rochester: the potentially lucrative Midtown Plaza demolition.

We can be sure that while many city residents are sleeping (literally and figuratively), planning is taking place. However, apparently the planning is occurring under a cloak of secrecy, which is often the case in Rochester and Monroe County.

It is past time for city residents to loudly and publicly raise critical questions, before it's too late.

A) Who is the prime contractor in the Midtown Plaza demolition project?

B) What is the plan for local hiring and training?

C) When will this information be made public?

D) What are the local hiring requirements - and if there aren't any, why not?

Considering the super-high unemployment rate among city residents, especially among the youth and "minorities"; considering that the demolition project will be funded with local, state, and presumably federal tax dollars, and considering state and federal laws and regulations that govern public-works projects, it would be a crime if city residents did not receive a fair share of the work and windfalls that will flow from the demolition of Midtown Plaza.

With regard to the Midtown project as well as other large-scale, multimillion-dollar public-works projects in the future, let me ask Mayor Robert Duffy, in particular: What are the answers to the critically important questions raised above?

HOWARD EAGLE, ROCHESTER