Author: Rachel Barnhart
Six and a half months after they were due, the city has provided financial disclosure forms required of all elected officials, senior managers and board appointees. The city released the forms in response to Rochester for All’s Freedom of Information request. The forms contain information for the 2017 calendar year.
The city redacted all information pertaining to outside sources of income. The City Charter only allows for the redaction of dollar amounts:
Public inspection and copying of all records relating to this Subsection G shall be governed by the provisions and procedures of the Freedom of Information Law; provided, however, that the Records Access Officer shall withhold as an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy the categories of value or amount reported in former statements of financial disclosure.
Rochester for All will appeal the redaction.
The state and federal government do not redact this information on their financial disclosure forms.
This was the first year City Council required all information about outside income. The old form required these individuals only to list whether they earn income from any entity doing business with the city. The new form is in line with state and federal government disclosure requirements.
Councilman Adam McFadden listed his ownership of Caesar Development LLC on his form, but he did not indicate an income schedule associated with the company for 2017. The FBI claims Rochester Housing Charities used a pass-through company to mask payments to Caesar Development in 2015. Rochester Housing Authority Chairman George Moses is accused of lying to the FBI about the arrangement.
Officials who listed outside income, gifts or benefits that was redacted include Mayor Lovely Warren, Deputy Mayor Cedric Alexander, the subject of Rochester for All stories about his outside business interests, as well as Councilmembers Elaine Spaull, Molly Clifford and Michael Patterson.
Without being able to see this information, the public cannot judge the appropriateness of the outside activities of elected and appointed officials.
Financial Disclosure Forms:
City Council President Loretta Scott
City Council Vice President Adam McFadden
City Councilman Michael Patterson
City Councilwoman Jackie Ortiz
City Councilwoman Elaine Spaull
City Councilwoman Molly Clifford
Keith rawlins says:
From her very first City Hall appointments, Lovely Warren and her accomplices have become known for doing whatever they want, (DUI, mandatory anger management, multiple Thruway stops for speeding on the same trip, rampant nepotism, etc.) and severely browbeating everybody and anybody around them in the process, aggressively replacing many City Hall faithful.
She is the first mayor in Rochester’s history to need a bodyguard, now we have friends and family on the city payroll, all over the place.
Warren promised to do something about our terrible schools, and our worse poverty, both among the worst in the nation.
Under her administration, both of her main concerns as our representative have gotten even worse, yet her re-election coffers are the highest for a sitting mayor ever…
It seems, and rightfully so, that most of her energy goes into trying to associate herself with developement projects for the most fortunate residents of our city, and getting re-elected.