Connections

Rochester Mayor Malik Evans and City Council leaders on the city budget

By Evan Dawson,

Megan Mack, Gino Fanelli, Veronica Volk, Julie Williams

Published July 10, 2025 at 2:34 PM EDT

Four men wearing headphones sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a man front left has short brown hair, a brown beard and is wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, black pants and brown shoes; a man front right has short brown hair, a brown beard and is wearing glasses, a blue and beige patterned short-sleeved shirt, jeans and sneakers; a man back left has short dark hair, a dark goatee and is wearing a dark green polo shirt; a man back right has very short dark hair and is wearing a maroon blazer and black button-down shirt. — (foreground) Mitch Gruber, (background) Miguel A. Meléndez, Jr. and Malik Evans with guest host Gino Fanelli on "Connections" on Thursday, July 10, 2025

A man with short light brown hair, mustache and beard, wearing glasses and a green jacket — Gino Fanelli

Rochester Mayor Malik Evans is joined by the president of City Council and the council finance chair to discuss the recent city budget.

Guest host Gino Fanelli leads the conversation about the city’s focus on housing and economic development, recent debates about GBI (guaranteed basic income), downtown projects, and more.

Our guests:

Malik Evans, Rochester mayor
Miguel A. Meléndez, Jr., president of Rochester City Council
Mitch Gruber, finance chair for Rochester City Council

Take our audience survey to help us learn more about you, and make a better show for you.

Connections

Evan Dawson

Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.

See stories by Evan Dawson

Megan Mack

Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.

See stories by Megan Mack

Gino Fanelli

Gino Fanelli is an investigative reporter who also covers City Hall. He joined the staff in 2019 by way of the Rochester Business Journal, and formerly served as a watchdog reporter for Gannett in Maryland and a stringer for the Associated Press.

See stories by Gino Fanelli

Veronica Volk

Veronica Volk is a senior producer and editor for WXXI News.

See stories by Veronica Volk

Julie Williams

Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson." She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.

See stories by Julie Williams