A new era in Monroe County Government has begun. Although Adam Bello officially took office a few days ago, the formal swearing-in ceremony was held Saturday before hundreds of people at the Eastman Theatre.
(Video of Bello's inauguration speech is below)
Congressman Joe Morelle, another Democrat from Irondequoit, administrated the oath of office to Bello in Kodak Hall. Bello won election in November, defeating Republican incumbent Cheryl Dinolfo, and he is the first Democrat in nearly three decades to hold the top spot.
Bello pledged to work across the aisle with Republicans on the county legislature. Bello told the crowd that people need to realize that government is not a contact sport where one side wins when the other loses.
“With that in mind, I’d like to address directly my friends in the county legislature. I intend to work closely with all of you, because the success of Monroe County depends on the best of our collective efforts,” Bello said.
The Republicans still have a majority on the county legislature, but after the last election, their margin has narrowed to a 15 to 14 majority.
After the speech, Monroe County Legislature President Joe Carbone told WXXI News that he is hopeful that the majority Republicans on the legislature will be able to work well with Bello.
“I think we’ve already extended the olive branch with the things we did at the Monroe County Legislature so far, I’ve talked with him several times and a lot of people look at divided government as a problem, I look at it as an opportunity to reach across the aisle and I hope we’re going to get a lot of things done,” Carbone said.
Last November, Republican lawmakers on the county legislature faced some sharp criticism when there was a move to limit the powers of the county executive, which would have affected Bello’s new term. But that proposal was soon withdrawn after the backlash.
During the Saturday inaugural address, Bello told the crowd that he purposely had members of the county legislature seated next to lawmakers of the other party, rather than have two political groups setting in their own sections. Carbone said that he already gets along well with a number of Democratic lawmakers.
In his inaugural speech, Bello pledged to work on a number of key issues in his first 100 days in office, including dealing with poverty and the opioid crisis. He noted that more than 100 people in Monroe County died in the opioid epidemic last year.
“Our health systems, nonprofit agencies and law enforcement are all working on pieces of the solution. As with eradicating poverty, however, our progress so far has been painfully slow,” Bello said.
Besides Rep. Joe Morelle, other notable Demcratic officials speaking at the Saturday inauguration included Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul and New York state Attorney General Letitia James.
Hochul told Bello in her remarks that in terms of his election as Monroe County Executive, “You are there because you will achieve great heights, and I will be there with you, the governor will be with you and 20 million New Yorkers are rooting for you to take this county to a whole new place.”
James said that she looks forward to working with Bello on issues such as the opioid crisis and dealing with the so-called “zombie properties” which involve abandoned homes that can be a blight on a neighborhood.
Video of the inauguration speech by WXXI photojournalist Max Schulte:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9O4H2y6rK0&feature=youtu.be
