Our award winning downtown has something for everyone this holiday season. With a variety of stores and shops to choose from you can complete all your Christmas shopping without ever going to a big box store or crowded mall. With convenient on street and lot parking, you never have to walk far to find just what you are looking for. Give it a try this year – shop locally!

Leave the big box stores behind this year. Shop Main Street!

This year there were two members nominated for Mayor. The current mayor, Jeff Cuthbertson, was nominated by council member Stuart Bikson to continue as mayor for one more year. Council member David Becker also nominated Kim Russell for the position of mayor. A vote of the full council was held and Jeff Cuthbertson retained his position as mayor for the upcoming year.

Following a similar procedure, Mayor Cuthbertson nominated Stuart Bikson to continue as Mayor Pro Tem. I nominated Kim Russell to occupy this position for the upcoming year. After a second vote on the two choices, Stuart Bikson was selected to continue in the position of Mayor Pro Tem.

Congratulations to Our Newly Elected Council Officials

Jeff and Stuart are to be congratulated for serving as council officials for the past year and are to be commended for being elected to lead this council for another term. Our city council is in capable hands. Everyone in our city should be pleased by this as the city moves forward into the next decade.

Choice is a Good Thing

This council was afforded the opportunity to choose between two candidates who have a different idea and approach about how best to lead this council.  We are blessed with council members who bring different strengths (and weaknesses, too) to the council table.  Although this particular election of our council leaders was contested, this should not be interpreted as a lack of support for Mayor Cuthbertson and Mayor Pro Tem Bikson as the council moves forward.  I offer them my full support and will continue to do so throughout the term of their leadership.

Over the course of the next twenty-seven years we raised a family in this community.  Our two sons are now many years out of college.  They both have college degrees and can thank the Rochester Community Schools for setting the foundation for their college education.  My wife and I have both worked in the greater Rochester community since that time as well.

Don’t Worry, There’s a Point to This Article

At this exact moment, I am sitting in the Bean & Leaf coffee shop that sits squarely at University & Main.   The Big Bright Light Show lights just flickered on outside the window I am sitting in front of. The coffee shop is bustling with late afternoon activity; college students, middle-aged guys like me, a young mother with a five year old, two women having a chat.  Pretty much a cross section of our community and they’ve all chosen to meet right here.  Right now.  Why is that?

I suppose there are many reasons why we are all here in downtown Rochester.  But the central reason we are all calling this location home this afternoon is because Rochester is a great town.  We have everything going for us in Rochester.  We are located in a beautiful suburban area complete with beautiful oak trees, rolling hills, reclaimed railroads now turned into great walking and biking trails, great restaurants, retail shopping and service & professional businesses as well.

Rochester – The Real Deal

Rochester is indeed the real deal.  Decades and decades of hard work, community spirit and involvement and a dedicated local government have left us with what we have today.  I, for one, am thankful for the contributions that everyone has made throughout history.  We are all very fortunate to have found ourselves in such a great place.

Pretty Big Shoes to Fill

Those of us who have been trusted with the responsibility of steering our city into the future are wise to look to the past for guidance.  Did all the decisions made by past city councils turn out to be correct?  Certainly not.  Have mistakes been made by past councils and past city administrations?  Certainly.  Have mistakes been made by the current city council and administration?  Indeed they have.  But that’s to be expected.  We are all human and we all learn from our mistakes.  Hopefully.

I hope that as the seven of us on the current city council move forward into the next decade we can do so while always keeping the best interest of our city first and foremost in our minds.  We are in a unique position to come together as a group and work effectively as we take on new challenges.  I’m up for it and I hope everyone else is, too.

I was fortunate enough to be supported by a wonderful mix of people from various areas of our city. Getting to know many of you, and forming some new friendships, was an added benefit to the campaign process.

I was pleased with the election and was glad that the three other incumbents were re-elected. Hats off to Jeff Cuthbertson, Stuart Bikson and Dave Becker for winning re-election. I think that the current mix of council members will provides good balance and good experience as our city moves ahead into the next decade.

My thanks go out to all the residents who voted for me and to all of my friends and supporters who aided in the campaign process. Without your help my victory would not have been possible and I thank all of you for your contribution in whatever form it took.

With income tight and property values falling, many councilpersons, including myself, believed that a tax cut was necessary. After carefull deliberation, four days of budget meetings and hours of discussion, I am happy to report that we completed the budget process on Monday, March 21st.

City Income Will Fall in 2008

Income expectations are expected to fall this year, largely due to falling property values within the city. As a result of these falling values, the city expects to take in approximately .3 mills less in property taxes this year compared to 2007.

Eliminate the “Assistant City Manager” Position

We reviewed and completed the various department level budgets, and I am pleased to report there were no reductions made to city services. There was one change in staffing levels, however.

The council opted to eliminate the “Assistant City Manager” position, which was left vacant after the retirement of Carl Renius in February of this year. Replacing that position will be a new “Assistant to the City Manager” position.

This change in status will likely result in the employment of a younger Assistant who has expectations of future employment in the capacity of an Assistant City Manager or a City Manger.

The expectation is that this change in position will save the city approximately $30,000.00 per year without any reduction in city services.

Core City Services

I am pleased to report that there will be absolutely no reduction in core city services in 2008-2009. In fact, several significant changes were added to various department level budgets that are likely to increase the effectiveness of city services. But at the very least, no cuts were made.

Discretionary Spending

The biggest difference that took place in this years budget review was how the council addressed dispensing the discretionary income. This is the portion of the income that remains after budgeting for all core city services. This year that amount approximately $832,000.00.

The council took a very deliberate and cautious approach to studying all items that were discretionary in nature. When the final budget was complete, I am delighted to report that we had a remaining balance of .9 mills after all spending was complete. The council decided to return this .9 mills to the taxpayers in the form of a tax cut for 2009. This equates to approximately $690,000.00 that will be returned to your pockets.

The Final Result

There were no cuts to core city services. Several enhancement were made to department level budgets. Spending was critically reviewed and the fat was cut out of the budget. Money was returned to the taxpayers. It’s a win-win situation. And best of all, not a single dime was taken from any of the city fund balances. Not one penny.

Some people said that it couldn’t be done. Guess what? They were wrong and I am delighted to say so!

I was very pleased with how the council approached the review of these applicants. Mayor Stuart Bikson suggested a simple strategy that allowed the full council to move rather quickly, but efficiently, through the applicant resumes. After several hours of review, we were able to reduce the working number of applicants being considered to five.

Next Come the Interviews

The five remaining candidates will be scheduled for two hour interviews during the weekend of March 7th. These interviews will be orchestrated by Mr. Nottley, who will have 45 minutes of time to ask the candidates a number of pre-prepared questions.

After he is finished, each council person will have a short time (five minutes, perhaps) during which individual council members will be able to ask their own question(s).

Coming to a Consensus

After considering all the applicants, the council as a whole will begin deliberations about the candidates just interviewed with the goal of coming to a consensus about which candidate is the best person to manage our city. Assuming a consensus is reached, we will have identified the candidate who we would like to see lead our city into the future.

The Final Pieces of the Puzzle

Assuming a consensus was reached regarding a new city manager, it is the intent of the council to meet in closed session after the March 10, 2008 council meeting where we will discuss a compensation/contract package for the new manager.

Once this is complete, Mayor Bikson will be charged with making contact with our chosen applicant and “closing the deal”, so to speak.

My Thoughts on the Process

I was very pleased with the resume review process that we followed and with the resulting list of candidates. We were blessed with a very strong pool of candiates to review, and I am confident that we will be able to select a new city manager who fits the needs and expectations of the council and of the community.

The entire council has worked extremely hard on this issue. Each member has contributed directly to making the process a success, and I was pleased to see the manner in which we all worked together to reach this point in the hiring process.

From my perspective, the future looks bright. And it’s getting brighter every day.

The hiring process is blind, at this point, and we will not see the names of the candidates. Our job at this meeting is to weed through the resumes, discuss which candidates we think are the most suitable for interview, and pass those candidates on to an interview process two weeks later.

I am really looking forward to this process. The new council has a unique opportunity to help directly shape the future of our city. It has been thirty years since a city council was in a postion to choose a new manager, and who we hire will be critical to the success of our city as we move forward into troubling economic times.

Community Involvement is Solicited

When we choose the final list of candidates, my understanding is that the city council will make a public statement identifying the finalists. This unprecedented step will be taken so that all citizens and other interested people will also have the ability to review the candidates and to be involved in the selection process. At that time, I would welcome any phone calls or emails regarding the suitability of the candidates, any questions you might suggest that I ask in the interview process, or any other information that you feel is pertinent to the hiring process.

Please take the time to stay abreast of this process and to provide approrpiate input. It’s your city and your city manager. Get involved!