Rochester City Council members logged more than 100 combined absences from public meetings last year.
A couple of members missed two out of every five meetings they were supposed to attend, before leaving office in December.
A proposed new law seeks to dock members’ pay for poor attendance. It is one of two bills that City Councilmember Mitch Gruber has introduced. The other would establish a commission to determine elected officials’ pay raises, after Council voted then rescinded a 25% pay hike for themselves this past December.
Under the pay proposal, an independent body would be formed to determine guidelines for Councilmembers and the mayor’s salary. Pay would increase by 3% in 2026, with any future increases determined by the commission. The attendance requirement would apply to regular Council meetings, public hearings, and each member’s designated committee meetings. If they have two unexcused absences, the Councilmember would lose a month of pay for any further absences that year.
“It doesn't benefit the taxpayers; it doesn't benefit the constituents for Councilmembers to not be able to get work done,” Gruber said. “This is not talking about attendance for the sake of attendance.”
That proposal comes after a high-profile incident last July. WXXI News reported on the absence of four of the body’s nine members at that month’s monthly meeting. Two of those absences — Councilmember Mary Lupien and former Councilmember Kim Smith — were unannounced.
The absences caused 10 bills to be held, unable to be voted on, including borrowing money for lead water line replacements and purchasing street maintenance vehicles. Lupien was visiting her daughter’s family in Guatemala at the time, while Smith was on a cruise in Alaska.
Lupien did not return a request for comment Wednesday. After WXXI’s original story, she responded with an Instagram reel in which she argued that the issue of Council attendance was overblown.
"We don't do anything. Council really doesn't do anything," Lupien said in the video. "We are a legislative body that does not legislate ... we are not legislating, and we should be. So, Council meetings, while important and part of our job, should be so much more important."
Gruber vowed after that meeting to introduce legislation addressing attendance issues.
“I recognize that we're not always going to have perfect attendance, but I think it's critical to ensure that we can make a quorum,” Gruber said Wednesday.
Between January 2025 and February 2026, City Council held 104 meetings, work sessions, and public hearings. There was a total of 115 absences across those meetings. Nearly half were attributed to Smith, who missed 25 of the 61 meetings she was required to attend, and Willie Lightfoot, who missed 28 of the 65 meetings he was required to attend.
Neither sought re-election, and Lightfoot has said he is retired from politics. In a text message, he said his absences from Thursday committee meetings and public hearings during his final year in office was due to church obligations.
Smith did not immediately return a request for comment.
