For as long as many observers of Rochester city government can recall, City Council has served largely as a rubberstamp for the mayor’s proposed budget.
This year, though, City Council took the rare step of assuming a more assertive role, using a long-dormant power known as a “resolution of budgetary intent” to allocate unspent money from its own operating budget to fund policies Council considered a priority.
Council President Miguel Meléndez said it had been about 20 years since city lawmakers used such a resolution.
“I spent several weeks kind of just engaging with people on different issues, understanding what kind of priorities might emerge, and then worked on drafting something with essential staff that we thought could move forward,” Meléndez said.
Council pushed four bills by these means during the budget cycle, at a cost of about $1.4 million.
The most prominent of them dedicated $500,000 to study the possibility of Rochester cutting ties with Rochester Gas & Electric and forming a public power utility. The bill ensures that the money is only released if Monroe County, the state, or another government in RG&E’s nine-county footprint put up funds and lead the study. Monroe County Executive Adam Bello does not support the county funding the study.
The other three bills seek to evaluate the efficiency of the Rochester Police Department, address homelessness and affordable housing, and analyze the city’s Neighborhood Service Centers. All four bills passed Council unanimously at its June regular meeting.
The police department bill calls for an analysis that would “challenge the current model” of staffing. The study would specifically target the use of departmental overtime and crime response times. That analysis is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2024.
“Do we have the right staffing structure and model in the Police Department? Particularly now that we know we have this staffing gap of, depending on the month you’re talking about, 70, 80, 100 officers,” Meléndez said. “We know that our Police Department is also facing more retirements than recruits on a consistent basis...So with all of those things, we asked the chief to provide a workflow analysis.”
Another bill directs $750,000 in unspent funds from the Rochester Police Accountability Board, a subagency of City Council, toward “affordable housing and social-emotional well-being.”
In December, Council passed a bill allowing the spending of unused PAB funds with a caveat. Money could only be spent in four areas—housing and homelessness, substance abuse treatment, mental health, and public safety. What the budgetary resolution will do is unclear and defers to the mayor.
Council will offer the money to the mayor’s office, which is in turn asked to spend it “with the goals of reducing homelessness and increasing affordable housing options; and providing additional mental health resources and social-emotional wellness programs in the city of Rochester.”
The fourth bill is another study, aimed at analyzing the city’s Neighborhood Service Center program. The study would delve into the location of the service centers and whether they are offering services that are relevant to the public. That study will clock in at $150,000 in unspent PAB funds.
Meléndez said the four bills are the hallmark of a new era on Council, in which the body flexes its legislative powers.
“This was a culmination of me engaging my colleagues over the past couple months, and really listening to some of the issues and some of the priorities that we care about,” Melendez said.
