Mayoral Transition Project (November 2013)

SCI was engaged by the incoming Mayor of Rochester, Lovely A Warren, to conduct a series of activities prior to the beginning of her term, including:

To collect and analyze financial and departmental information that was provided by the outgoing administration

To design and implement a public engagement process that would allow citizens and diverse community leadership to comment on the priorities she articulated during her campaign.

A thorough analysis was conducted on each functional operations unit under the Mayor’s direct supervision (almost 30 discrete units), and to identify the status of priority areas in the outgoing administration, and any new initiatives that had been proposed. This work was conducted over a six week period between Election Day and January 1, 2014, when the new administration assumed office.

For the public engagement phase, a series of focus groups were convened with a broad cross-section of community members, including many neighborhood leaders. Input was provided on issues such as, the return to community policing strategies that had been abandoned by the previous administrations, the relationship between the City and the City School District (RCSD), the balance between neighborhood and downtown development, public safety and the neighborhoods, increasing the supply of new and affordable housing, and providing more effective employment opportunities for poor and marginalized residents. The feedback that came from these sessions was analyzed and reported to the Mayor-elect and her new leadership team.

Additionally, insight was provided to the Mayor-elect on specific operational and policy issues that would require her immediate attention between January 1 and mid-May, when her first budget was due to be submitted. For this six weeks engagement, the SCI team consisted of senior administrators who were experienced in all aspects of local government operations.

SCI Associates assigned to this project were: Vincent Carfagna, Tony Favro, Bruce Fisher and William A. Johnson. The facilitators for the public engagement sessions were: Carmen Coleman, David Dey, Edward Doherty, Tony Favro, Dr. John Klofas, and Joy Pacheco.