Mayoral Candidate Sergio Rodriguez Responds to State of City Address

His response points out what the mayor didn't say and yet provides no input on how he would manage theses issues. It's very easy to point out what's wrong....it's actually fixing it thats the hard part.

I was thinking the same thing, he doesn't even have a "9 9 9" plan.

"Fighting crime, unemployment, reforming our schools, making City Hall work, and creating a culture for business and innovation will be my top priorities. This is our challenge and all my efforts and policies are going to be dedicated to this."

I didn't hear the mayor's speech, and this is the first I have heard from Rodriguez, but these sound like the kind of ideas that would build a foundation for success, rather than continuously putting lipstick on this corpse of a pig.

Qui Sergius est?

In terms of reactions to the state-of-the-city, Buffalo Comptroller Mark Schroeder spoke volumes by simply declining to attend:
http://blogs.buffalonews.com/politics_now/2013/02/schroeder-skips-brown-speech-over-disagreement.html

Did'nt Brown address these issues when running for Mayor? ........and don't all runner ups talk about the same thing, promise us the same thing, then when elected into office, taking back everything they ever said.

Dear Sergio:

I couldn't care less about what Byron Brown says, because its usually a whole lot of nothing. He is a candidate that wins by staying silent on every possible issue that might cause an outcry.

Don't bother responding to him, its not worth it. Most everybody already knows he's an idiot, so pointing that out is not news. I'm looking for a candidate who actually has forward thinking vision for this city and can directly articulate solutions to the many problems facing Buffalo, especially including those you bring up.

Byron is the figurehead of a powerful political machine. You're not going to beat him on his turf. You need to differentiate yourself and stand out. It shouldn't be too hard. You're young, you seem to be energetic, enthusiastic and I think being Hispanic makes you very relatable to a population that Byron only pretends to relate to. And I'm hoping that you also have some wide-reaching vision. Use those qualities. Don't focus on problems, we know those exist. Focus on solutions to problems.

ANYONE. But. Brown.

This is in response to those who are saying all politicians are alike. Sergio is 32. His closet is clean. He is not a politician. He truly seeks to serve and lead the city, not simply gain power and privilege from the position. He is still working out programs and policies. That will come. Please keep an open mind.

i admire mr. rodriguez for joining the race. running for office here is dirtier and more vicious than it ought to be, so he gets props for taking the prospect seriously.

i am not sure any mayor can end poverty; that is an issue caused by too many factors beyond the control of a municipal government. kind of like demanding tonawanda's plan for world hunger. mayoral candidates need to be able to talk -knowledgeably- about what local government can and cannot do in the case of poverty.

that is why i prefer to choose from candidates who have experience in public administration. there is a reason that public administration is a separate graduate program from the mba.

if you are not elected mayor, mr. rodriguez, please consider a run for common council, school board, county legislature, etc.

We need a mayor willing to stand up for our city and our citizens. That would entail taking on the racism, parochialism, and classism that both defines and limits our region. The city is the center and heart of the region and should be supported and respected not neglected and demeaned as is now the case. Our mayor should be an aggressive and unapologetic advocate for Buffalo, willing to step on toes and cajole our neighbors into doing the right thing. Our suburban neighbors for the most part ignore our problems or lay blame in the wrong places. The problems of the city are actually regional problems that have now begun to creep outward past the artificial boundary of Buffalo. I hope more will recognize that the health of the city and of the region are directly linked.

I agree with grad's suggestion of runs for other offices, although he did already run and lose badly for Common Council in 2007. A difficulty with that office is unfortunately the terms are long at 4 years, so there isn't another election for Council until Fall of 2015. If he wants to run then, I'd suggest for sure he change registration to D well before then.
And he's probably hurt his chances even for a school board by ever running for anything as an R. That will stain him in attacks from opponent campaigns.
But it would be good to see him give that a try next time there's a Board of Ed election. Actually, that's this Spring, isn't it? If so and he's running for mayor this year, a BoE run would have to wait until the following race whenever that is.

As for his mayoral campaign statement above... meh, very weak.

I won't take seriously any candidate for city office not running on the D line anyway (since zero chance of win without that), but it could be nice if this guy gives a good substantive effort even while going through the motions.

However, based on his statement I agree with criticisms in most previous comments - low substance, lame talking points (poverty "program" - huh?), and at least one bad suggestion for change (mayoral involvement in school system).

Not that Byron's good either, but at this early stage this guy doesn't seem any better than Kearns was 4 years ago which was... I'll be polite and just say not good at all.

On the plus side - at least Mr. Rodriguez didn't offer any awful silver bullet ideas like removing the 190 highway as a past candidate for mayor advocated, or building a roof over the 33 like a former state senator wanted. He also didn't propose any crazy illegal acts like cutting off utilities to any businesses like one of our Council members has suggested.
So, could be worse. Sometimes is. Maybe his message will improve with time.