Early Voting

It’s incredible that early voting has only this year arrived in New York State. What took so long? If you look at New York Senate party control, you will understand. You might also ask why it didn’t happen in 2008, but you have to remember who the ineffective Governor was at the time…

So which states currently have early voting? Here’s a map, from the National Conference of State Legislatures:

Sadly, once a state has enacted early or advance voting, maintaining it is not a sure thing. The New York Times recently reported efforts in Texas to revoke early voting on campuses, citing spurious reasons. The real reason, of course, is Republican voter suppression of Democrat voters. Meanwhile, in Florida, the Republican legislature basically overruled the will of their constituents, who voted in favor of restoring voting rights for felons who had served their term. Of course, most of those re-enfranchised voters would probably vote Democratic, so how to foil them? Institute what amounts to a poll tax – require that all fines and fees be paid before being allowed to vote. 

I felt it was my civic duty not just to vote, but to be a “first day voter,” as I was termed when greeted at the polling site I selected (there are seven places in Monroe County, and you can choose whatever is most convenient (go to EARLY VOTING). Because the fewer the numbers who turnout early, the easier it will be for the “suppression” party to claim that the costs exceed the benefits, and work to reverse access as soon as they're back in control. The process was super simple – the poll workers looked us up on a computer, and then voters signed an electronic affidavit. A nearby machine printed out a ballot with a number that matched the identification tied to my name, and from there, the process was the same as regular Tuesday voting. 


On my way out, I informed the poll workers that I intend to go to my regular polling place on November 5, just to make sure that I’m not allowed to vote again. A supervisor who overheard informed us that the Board of Elections is going to manually match the early voter rolls to the printed rolls and indicate on the latter who has already voted. I am glad that they are doing everything they can to ensure a smooth and trustworthy process of early voting. And now that we have early voting, perhaps I will volunteer to be a poll worker in the next election!

Roc the Riverway Weekend – Insider Walk to High Falls

We have probably all been warned at some point not to fall in love with potential. But if you have ever walked over the Pont de Rennes Bridge near the Genesee Brewery, you can’t help but look down and think what a game changer it would be if Rochester developed the land around its best feature – High Falls. How many acres of brownfield are there, crying out for remediation and development? Close your eyes, and can’t you envision hotels, apartments, restaurants, a park and a boardwalk, and who knows, maybe even a performing arts center? Instead, it’s a wasteland, with the occasional deer sighting.

This past weekend was something called Roc the Riverway Weekend, with special events along the river, including Sam Patch boat tours (temporarily relocated from the Erie Canal), renewing of vows on the banks of the Genesee (I couldn’t get Charlie to do this with me!), and various other bike, boat, and walking tours. But the thing that intrigued me most was a tour to the base of the falls, through the RG&E-owned property (organized by the Genesee Land Trust). It intrigued about 100 other people as well, many with professional photography equipment! According to the tour leader, this was the first one of its kind, and hopefully not the last. 

We descended the hill next to where RG&E’s Beebe Station used to be, and stopped briefly to learn about the odd structure that remains from the days when coal would be delivered by train to a plant that would turn it into gas. 






Next stop was to view the derelict building with the smokestack, where, around the turn of the century, recyclable materials would be sorted, metal separated out, and the remainder burned to create steam for the surrounding buildings (if I understood correctly).

Once we reached the bottom, we were led through normally-locked gates, under the Pont de Rennes Bridge (where we were admonished not to pause because of potential falling objects, and it wasn’t clear if the fear was from the bridge itself or the people on the bridge), to the water’s edge.

It was thrilling to be so close to the river and to see and hear the falls from river-level. It was also depressing, since I have no faith that Iberdrola (RG&E’s parent company) will ever invest the funds to clean up the site (at least one of the individual parcels is part of the “Voluntary Cleanup Program” – the operative word being “voluntary”…). 

It appears that the entire mass of land is mostly owned by RG&E (about 20 acres?) with some additional property owned by the City. Given the relatively low priority of revitalization of the falls, compared to so many other pressing needs in Rochester, the land will most likely remain tantalizingly out of reach, except for the deer, who perhaps deserve a bit of refuge...

University of Rochester Inauguration of President Mangelsdorf

The last time I wore a cap and gown was at my college graduation, almost 40 year ago. I didn’t attend my MBA graduation because at the time and place, anyway, doing that was for losers. Instead, a fellow grad and I toasted to each other, at the hour of the ceremony, on a beach in St. Maarten…

So I was curious when I was contacted by my college asking me to represent the school in the procession for the inauguration of the new president of University of Rochester. I wasn’t sure what it would involve, and I wasn’t sure I was worthy of the honor, since it was my understanding that the invitation was primarily for the presidents of colleges and universities. But it sounded like an interesting opportunity, and I accepted, and duly submitted my height and head circumference. The rental cap, gown and hood arrived in plenty of time, and I googled how to wear the hood, but it was clear to me I couldn’t arrange it properly myself. I did take the advice on the instructions and wear a button-down shirt, to attach the hood’s loop to (otherwise, you risked feeling strangled by the hood, since the bulk of the weight hangs down your back).

Luckily, there were experts on hand at Eastman, where the delegates assembled prior to the event in Kodak Hall. I was not the only alumni stand-in (in fact, the only presidents attending were from local colleges), and most needed help with their hoods... It was fun to see the different PhD colors and stripes and puffy hats, and to learn a bit about the different hood markings (the brown band at the top of mine, for example, is the disappointing color of the MBA).

We assembled in order of the schools’ founding, and since Middlebury’s 1800 is relatively early, I was among the first in line, behind Williams and in front of the University of Virginia (I had a nice chat with the U of R psychiatry professor delegate for that school). That also put us in the first row, so I didn’t have to worry about not being able to see because of someone’s cap in front of me (interestingly, the tradition is for men to remove their caps after processing, but women to keep them on. I wonder how that will evolve to accommodate non-binary gender individuals. If it were up to me, everyone would remove them…).

The Words of Welcome from different constituents of the university were both inspiring and emotional, especially Human Resources’ Ashley Campbell’s poetic welcome from the staff and CEO of Common Ground Health Wade Norwood’s passionate and moving welcome from the community (he even gave a shout-out to the university’s involvement with East High and Mt. Hope Family Center). A genuine admiration and respect for Mangelsdorf was clear from all of the welcoming addresses.

Before the Investiture, we were treated to a performance by the Ying Quartet of Jeff Beal’s The Pathway, and the audience applauded both the quartet and Beal, who was in the audience.

Mangelsdorf began her Inaugural Address with quotes from a letter from the first U of R President, Martin Brewer Anderson, 1853-1888 (although technically there was an acting president who preceded him from the University’s founding in 1850). They concerned the requirements to be a good university president, and while most were still true, others were amusing and quaint (one quality required being like a woman in some respects… because of course he couldn’t envision that a woman could actually BE a university president!). There was lots of talk about equity inclusion and diversity (from the welcome addresses as well), and it felt absolutely authentic. Mangelsdorf embraced the responsibility the University has as the largest employer in Rochester, and acknowledged that they are not just a university in the community, but also of the community and for the community. 

Singing the Alma Mater: The Genesee

Mangelsdorf certainly inspires a confidence that she can and will lead the university in its next exciting chapter. Meliora!