Grassie raps Callaghan regime for city's fiscal woes, use of unassigned fund balance

ROCHESTER - When it comes to the current health of Rochester financial standing, Rochester Mayor Chuck Grassie doesn't mince any words.
"We're in dire financial straits," he told The Rochester Voice in an exclusive interview on Friday. "It's going to be tough for the next three to five years for the city to get more stable financially, but right now we've got to make the right decisions."
One of the biggest threats to the city's fiscal stability that has surfaced in recent months is the underfunding of the city's water and sewer services to the tune of more than $7 million, which is now forcing the city to take out an installment loan to cure the shortfall, a telling sign of just how mismanaged that enterprise account has become.
The other is the decimation of the city's unassigned fund balance, which has been used for a myriad of questionable projects that depleted the fund by more than $20 million over just four years.
Grassie refused to name names, but blamed it squarely on the back of the past administration, which was headed up by former mayor Paul Callaghan.
Meanwhile, Grassie blames the water/sewer boondoggle on Rochester's highest governing body as a whole.
"The City Council should have stepped up," he said. "They knew they had problems and needed to increase the rates. The Utility Advisory Board said we need higher rates. They urged going up 15 percent; the council just went with 5 percent."
He conceded that part of the equation might have been "they didn't want to hurt constituents" but also it might have been "they wanted their votes" in an election year.
Whatever the reason for the slow walk on water/sewer rate hikes, Grassie said he didn't want to assign blame on any particular government employee or elected officer, but added that it was a combination of both entities that "kicked the can down the road."
Former city councilor Chris Rice, however, wasn't as forgiving as Grassie, saying that "multiple people are responsible, including the city manager, who should've been sounding the alarm in a more succinct and forceful manner.
"She should be investigated," Rice said. "The city's bond rating could be in jeopardy now."
He also blamed former Mayor Callaghan for the unassigned fund balance depletion.
"Mayor Callaghan touted he was having the best term, yet he put us into this fiscal predicament, which could financially cripple the city for the next 20 years."
He added that Callaghan wreaked havoc with the unassigned fund balance, and that Deputy Mayor Don Hamann, who is also on the finance and DPW committees, should've seen the water/sewer disaster coming and taken action.
Rice said an investigation into why city leadership, specifically Ambrose, did not take the bull by the horns and demand a water/sewer rate increase at the advice of the Utility Advisory Board needs to happen.
"The people want to know just how did she let this occur," Rice added.
Meanwhile, Tom Kaczynski, a state rep and fiscal conservative, blamed both Callaghan and the City Council for their unabashed use of the unassigned fund balance.
"When you give politicians a cookie jar, they're like drug addicts," he said. "They can't just let it sit there. Now the chickens are coming home to roost."

The Rochester Voice reached out to former mayor Paul Callaghan for comment, but he did not call back.