This Zero Tolerance business is really bothering me. And it's not just the cost.

I understand the philosophy behind ZT: use every legal means to stop people and search them or their cars. The thugs carrying illegal guns will get the message: they have a good chance of getting stopped, and if they have a gun on them, they'll go to prison.

But this is incredibly expensive. And the police are stopping people for very minor infractions: driving with a tail light out or parking on the wrong side of the street.

City officials - who are comparing ZT to the Iraq Surge - insist that this is money well spent. Assaults are down. Robberies are down. Auto thefts are down.

Certainly we have to do something about the violence. But I'd feel a lot better if the mayor had laid out what we're going to do besides tell our cops to be more aggressive.

Bob Duffy campaigned on the idea that public safety, economic development, and education are, in his words, "inextricably linked." But at the moment, we have only one anti-crime program: policing.

City officials say this is just the beginning, that they'll tackle the deeper problems after they get the violence under control. But that implies that they don't yet have a plan for Phase 2. And if they're serious about violence, there'll have to be a Phase 2.

Since City Hall hasn't put forth a plan, let me offer my own: the Children's Zone. It's the best proposal we've had to address Rochester's problems of crime, economic development, and education. But that effort, which would focus the resources of the community on one of Rochester's poorest neighborhoods, is still in the planning and development stage. This after more than two years.

Community leaders should have jumped on board the minute former Superintendent Manny Rivera proposed the Children's Zone. Residents of the city's northeast have been working hard during this planning phase. But from the broader community - from City Hall and business leaders - there has been virtual silence.

Bob Duffy is uniquely suited to lead on this issue: he has the admiration of much of the community - including the business community. He apparently has the respect of the county executive. He could insist that development of the Children's Zone be put in high gear. He could insist that it become the community's highest priority.

And he could urge that the wildly popular Bill Cala be named the Children's Zone director. In many parts of the community, there was great disappointment when Cala wasn't persuaded to stay on as superintendent. But he could do just as much for Rochester leading the Children's Zone. He has the experience to do it. And he has the public trust and the clout to do it.

The mayor has a lot on his mind, and I'm sure he intends to have a Phase 2. But with other things tugging at him, it'll be easy to postpone dealing with the tougher stuff, once we seem to have put a lid on the violence.

Duffy has asked City Council for more money for Zero Tolerance. And next Tuesday, no doubt, Council will give it to him. If I were voting, though, I'd approve funding with a caveat: I'd set a deadline for the mayor to submit a plan for the next steps. What, specifically, are we going to do about our violence problem beyond asking the cops to solve it?

The mayor has a responsibility to be tough, and he has a responsibility to be the face of public outrage. But he also has a responsibility to lead us in tackling the roots of the violence. If he waits much longer to do that, he sends the message that policing is the only solution.