The 2017 campaign for Mayor of Rochester has already begun.

That's right.
For months, the notorious Molly Clifford has been stating that her political comments have had nothing to do with her seeking higher elected office next year.
Her tepid statements have been totally unconvincing. She doesn't want people to really believe that she won't run for mayor next year, because she has been building up her support base, specifically among the labor unions, for just such a run. At the same time, Clifford didn't want to alert the Warren administration to her obvious intention of replacing the current mayor. She thought she would surprise Mayor Warren, and the white queen would sweep the black queen from the board.
Unfortunately for Clifford, Mayor Warren and her cronies have been wary of her from the start. The hostility between the two queens and their factions has become an amusing public spectacle.
The latest episode of this black comedy has been the op-ed framed by the white queen and published in the D&C. It criticized the lack of communication between the black queen's faction and the white queen's regarding union contracts involved in the school modernization plan.
It is hardly curious that not one black city councilman signed it. Only the white elitist members ( and their indispensable Hispanic ally, Jackie Ortiz ) did.
Adam McFadden found it necessary to point out that phase one of the contracts did not live up to their object of women and minority hiring.
McFadden pointed out that UNICOM received at least a million dollars worth of labor contracts under phase one. He also pointed out that Clifford's boy toy Ken Warner is one of UNICOM's top bananas. UNICOM, and therefore the boy toy and Clifford, stand to lose out financially if the contracts for phase two are rejected.
Personal interest is therefore Clifford's motivating factor regarding these labor contracts, as it is for those city councilmen who co-signed her op-ed: They all had union support in getting elected and now might not be able to repay those unions with lucrative construction contracts.
The City of Rochester, meaning the rest of us, doesn't count for shit in their schemings.
What is also clear is that the campaign for mayor will clearly be featuring race and racism as an issue, illustrated by the color of the two queens.
The black queen and the white queen will be fighting to the death.
It's going to be a lot of fun.

Richards dumped as chairman of the school modernization board. Clifford has a hissy fit at City Council.

Politics in Rochester has been rather boring during our long, hot summer.
Most energy has been wasted upon the presidential election, debating the relative merits of electing one or the other of the most evil people the two major political parties have ever puked up for the delectation of American voters: Clinton's Bitch or The Donald.
Concern about local crime, murders and police arrests of disobedient protesters pass into collective oblivion almost as soon as they make the front page of the local newsrag, the D&C.
Last night, local politics heated up again. Ex mayor Tom Richards was ousted as chairman of the school modernization board. The majority of that board didn't trust his leadership to supervise a $1.3 billion modernization plan for the Rochester City School District.
Replacing Richards is Allen Williams, Mayor Warren's director of special projects. Nobody knows exactly what Williams' job is in the Warren administration, not even most people at City Hall.
The reason for Richards' ouster is the union contracts involved in the modernization plan.
The D&C stated "At issue in the vote was whether a similar agreement for the project’s Phase I was successful. Only five women or minority apprentices ended up working on Phase I as a result of that agreement, although larger goals for minority hiring were met. More than 20 percent of all workers in Phase I were minorities."
Richards wanted to keep the union agreements intact. The unions backed both him and the notorious Molly Clifford, after all. He and she owe them. Big time.
Williams did not, and so he replaced Richards as chairman.
Richards might take this as a sign that it is time for him to retire. He only took the appointment to the board to stick it to the mayor, to get back at her for beating him in the 2013 election.
But there is more to this story.
At last night's monthly city council meeting, Clifford needed to vent publicly about those union contracts.
She was put promptly into her place by Adam McFadden, who equally publicly stated how those union contracts had failed.
Carolee Conklin eventually jumped in to break up the fight and referee, while Mayor Warren put an end to Clifford's hissy fit by tartly stating that her concerns had been noted.
It was odd that the D&C never bothered to make any mention of that in their newsrag.

Adam McFadden at it again.

Adam McFadden wants to lead the Rochester Housing Authority. Again.
Never mind the fact that he isn't qualified for it.
Or that he was bounced out for conflict of interest after a few months on the job. And $30,000 later.
The conflict is that he is a city councilman for the southwest district.
He still is, and is running for re election to that office.
McFadden claims that he was told by somebody in HUD in Washington DC they doubted the opinion of the Buffalo office that there was a conflict of interest.
McFadden made this claim in a letter to RHA when applying for the lead position.
The letter hasn't been released for popular consumption.
Nor has the name of the person or persons who supposedly told McFadden this.
McFadden might have saved his ink and paper.
H. Todd Bullard, the board's employment counsel, said "Adam's application will not be considered and letters will go out to five other applicants who arguably have potential conflicts."
That should be an end to it.
But it probably won't be.
Not until Mayor Warren puts in her two cents.
Until then, you have got to admire McFadden's nerve. Or gall.
He ought to put his money where his mouth is and lawyer up.
John Parrinello is always looking for high profile clients.

LaShay Harris to run for county legislature.

Every seat is up for grabs this year in the Monroe County Legislature.
Incumbents who haven't been termed out will run for re-election.
Whether or not they have been useless morons will not be considered during their campaigns.
Incumbents who have been termed out and can't run again will have to give way to new blood, such as it is.
This is the case in LD 27.
LaShay Harris has announced that she will run for that seat.
Ms. Harris is an ideal candidate.
She grew up and still resides in the 19th Ward.
She has been a tireless advocate and spokeswoman for her neighborhood.
She has been her neighborhood association president.
Ms. Harris' passion for her neighborhood suits her for elected office.
This is in stark contrast to Molly Clifford ( running for the northwest district city council seat ), a carpetbagger if there ever was one.
The deck is subtly stacked in Ms. Harris' favor, so she should have an easy victory.
She has the support of Willie Lightfoot, the current incumbent.
No Republicans will offer at candidate for LD 27, so she has nothing to fear from that quarter.
The white, elitist Morelle-Clifford wing of the Democratic party cuts no ice in the southwest, and they aren't stupid enough to attempt running a candidate against Ms. Harris.
Ms. Harris also has the support of City Councilman Adam McFadden.
That can only help her.
While McFadden might be notorious and disliked by many in the city of Rochester, he is well loved in the southwest district.
There is no accounting for taste.
At least Ms. Harris is a good candidate.