On Tuesday evening, the Monroe County Legislature rejected, along party lines, a proposal to bond funds in support of the entire Monroe County 2014-2019 Capital Improvement Plan, including $44 million for our new downtown campus at State Street and Morrie Silver Way. After last year's positive county legislature votes for the new downtown campus and more recent public statements by County Executive Maggie Brooks and Mayor-elect Lovely Warren supporting the new campus, this is disappointing. I hope that, upon reflection, all parties will see that the value of this campus is beyond politics and is about moving Rochester forward. MCC's new downtown campus will provide transfer programs that will connect city residents to our state's and nation's finest colleges and universities. It will offer essential workforce programs that will move Rochester's youth and dislocated workers into meaningful and sustaining career pathways. As this week's report on poverty in our region made very clear, our residents need these opportunities, desperately. I hope our legislators consider their needs.
Anne M. Kress
President
12/11/2013 |