This week in the mayor's race: Friday, January 27 

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There’s not a lot new to report this week in the Rochester mayor’s race. I will tell you that sensitivities are remarkably high, especially considering that we still only have one candidate (James Sheppard).

I’m worried, though, with all the talk about the race being a proxy to wage old wars: white and black; Park Avenue and Parsells; that we’ll hear little on the issues.

I hope we hear about the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative. Why isn’t everybody talking about this? There was so much excitement in the beginning, but now some of the same people who cautioned us to be patient — that the group’s progress would be measured with a calendar, not a stopwatch — are tapping their feet.

Why does the effort feel so isolated? Poverty is eating away at this city’s heart and undermines so much of what we’re trying to do — everyone needs to be invested in this work.

I hope we hear about the police reorganization, too. Are we getting buildings in the neighborhoods or not? I haven’t had any luck getting an update from the city’s communications office.

What’s going on with that Cobbs Hill housing project? The developer is supposedly redoing the designs after the huge public outcry, but it’s been awhile. Is the project on or off?

What are the candidates’ visions for the Port of Rochester? A lot of people thought the first project was too big and put too much public land into private hands. And how will the new mayor get all sides to agree?

How will the new mayor deal with the crap rolling down from the Trump administration, like this Sanctuary Cities BS?

What are we going to do about the scourge of guns in the city? Buy-back programs make nice photo opps, but I’m not sure they’re all that successful in stopping gun violence.

These are just a few things off the top of my head. There are many, many more.

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