CDR Holds Mayoral Forum

By News 10 NBC March 18, 2011

Rochester’s candidates for mayor got another chance to talk with voters tonight, with just a week and a half until the special election.

The Center for Disability Rights hosted a forum at the Edgerton Rec Center.

Bill Johnson, Tom Richards, Alex White, and write-in candidate Ann Lewis all attended. They talked about a variety of issues facing the city, and people with disabilities, Including equitable housing for those with special needs.

Ann Lewis said, “I think there’s a lot of waste. There’s a lot of homes that could be renovated if we tried harder. Take that demolition money and apply it towards helping people get into their homes.”

Alex white, of the Green Party said, “we need to actually use the demolition money to hire people from the city to do these renovations where we cannot find local residents to step in and fill the path.”

Working Families, and Independence party candidate Bill Johnson had this to say, “Demolition is not a reckless strategy. It is a strategy that is very very useful to our situation because otherwise we end up with all of these vacant houses that just rot and they destroy the value of the houses adjacent to them.”

Democrat Tom Richards said, “This city is now smaller than it used to be. We don’t need more housing in an absolute sense. What we need is better housing for the people who have disabilities.”

Again, Election Day is coming up fast in Rochester. It’s scheduled for Tuesday, March 29th.