Guest Essay: No more ‘two cities’

I am not a city resident or voter but followed the recent mayoral elections with much interest. The election exposed some deep seated divisions in city polity; with some even branding the divide with a name of its own: “Two Cities.”

However, as new Mayor Lovely Warren steps in, it would be a great idea to attempt to bridge that divide. Some would say that the best approach for the mayor is to focus on what divides the city and work on rectifying that.

Others would say that the best approach is to identify the commonalities and begin by strengthening those. In my opinion Ms. Warren needs a two-pronged strategy, which first attempts to build on the commonalities even as she then works on bridging the divide.

This may need a reconciliation process in the Mandela mode which brings all stakeholders together to work on identifying the commonalities. The divisions everyone knows about, and are easy to list. But surprisingly the commonalities will be almost as many when the right people with the right mindsets apply their energies toward it. For starters — economic development, better schools, improved civic services, lower crime rate, etc., could be common areas to focus on.

Irrespective of the approach, one thing is certain, the moniker “Two Cities” needs to go. I will suggest a new one: “Rochester: One City. For All.”

Seth is a former Board of Contributors member.