CEO has been accused of physical violence and disruptive behavior. There are questions and complaints about business practices. Former employees raise concerns about “work hard, play hard” company culture. New York State is giving a $1.5 million state grant to a company whose CEO has been accused of violent behavior, fostering a “work hard, play hard” workplace, engaging in questionable …
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Read: ROC the Riverway Plan Part 1 Read ROC the Riverway Plan Part 2 Governor Andrew Cuomo came to Rochester to announce $50 million for our ROC the Riverway initiative. This is a series of infrastructure projects designed to enhance, preserve and beautify the riverfront in an effort to revitalize downtown. We obtained a document dated December 1, 2017 that …
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The Rochester Housing Authority has created a shadow agency, one with employees, properties and an office. But this agency, Rochester Housing Charities, will not open its books to the public. Rochester for All is preparing to sue the agency to obtain records. The IRS signed off on Rochester Housing Charities’ creation in 2014. It’s not uncommon for housing authorities to …
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Deputy Mayor Cedric Alexander altered his time cards, three days after Rochester for All filed an open records requests for his official schedule and travel records. The changes added 31 more hours of vacation time, including an out-of-town conference he previously put down as regular hours. Alexander’s official schedule shows he was absent from City Hall 28 days, 21 of them …
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The City of Rochester has a budget of $526 million. Much of that spending takes place out of the public view. There are no line items in the annual budget book for expenditures such as catered lunches or baseball tickets. City Council doesn’t vote on all business grants and loans. A good way to examine spending is to obtain the …
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Our examination of the Rochester city checkbok registry discovered political spending on advertisements and events. Political Advertisements Elected officials raise and spend money throughout their terms. Not all campaign spending involves explicit messages to elect a candidate. Politicians also use campaign dollars on nonprofit events, advertisements and causes. This spending influences their standing in the community. For example, if a …
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(*Not all businesses used their entire award. This list may be missing some awards, as we didn’t have full information about the project’s location.) During her State of the City speech in April 2017, Mayor Lovely Warren praised the renovation of the Hyatt Regency, saying, “The makeover of the Hyatt will bring the first Starbucks to Downtown Rochester. And …
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