Opponents have been dominating the discussion about mayoral control, but late yesterday afternoon Mayor Bob Duffy hit back at one group.

Members of the area Students for a Democratic Society organization had organized a press conference and march yesterday to highlight one of their contentions: that Duffy hasn't given students a voice on the issue.

Not true, Duffy said.

"Contrary to their claim," he said in a press release sent out yesterday, "we are actively soliciting youth and parental input on the topic."

Duffy cites a variety of meetings and discussions that he has held on the topic.

Here's the rest of the release:

"I have personally met with the Mayor's Youth Advisory Council (MYAC) twice on the subject in February and either myself or members of my staff have attended numerous community meetings since the beginning of the year. MYAC will be working on mechanisms to allow for even more student input into the school governance discussion. I reiterate that community forums will take place once we have the legislation in hand that is currently being written in Albany.

"Operated by the Center for Teen Empowerment, MYAC provides city youth with opportunities for social action and a vehicle to have a voice at City Hall. The Council meets monthly in the City's Bureau of Recreation and Youth Services offices in the Sibley Building downtown and my door is always open to them. During our February meetings, the youth from MYAC candidly discussed this and many other issues that are important to them. We regularly meet and brainstorm ideas about education, jobs and networking, police and youth relations, programs for youth, performance opportunities and much more. The youth from MYAC help me understand the viewpoints and desires of city kids and I value and applaud their dedication to the Rochester community. 

"We have met with parents from the School of the Arts on February 9 and attended various community meetings throughout the year to listen to the community's concerns about my intentions to improve student achievement and graduation rates, build communities around neighborhood schools and save taxpayer dollars by eliminating wasteful redundancies in the City government and School District budgets. All along, this has been about keeping the interests of students at the forefront and while I applaud the Students for a Democratic Society for being socially active, however, I cannot support their perpetuation of misinformation."