You are on page 1of 2

ROC 25th Democratic Committee

To Mayor Warren, Councilmember McFadden, and LD 25 Democratic Committee members:

The Executive Committee members from the 25th Democratic Committee feel compelled to
write this open letter as a rebuke to the bigoted, disrespectful and false statements made by
Councilmember Adam McFadden as a surrogate for Mayor Lovely Warren on Facebook and in-person.
We expect Mayor Warren to unequivocally denounce the intolerant statements made on her behalf. We
hope she respects her obligation to represent the entire Rochester community, and will proceed with
the dignity that comes with the Mayors office.

As the Mayors surrogate, Mr. McFadden spoke last Thursday to our members and expressed his
discontent with the makeup of our committee. Later, he took to Facebook and tagged Mayor Warren
in a post with falsehoods that most of our committee doesnt live in our community, and that we
replaced a majority Black committee with a majority White committee. Such dastardly statements are
not only bigoted, they are factually incorrect. Most importantly, his comments are intended to create an
environment to silence members of our committee who want to be part of the democratic process in
their community. This is reprehensible behavior unbecoming of any elected official.

Mr. McFadden insinuated that we do not reflect the community because we have too many
White folks on our committee. We want to inform Mr. McFadden that over 30% of the voters in the
boundaries of our committee are White, but only 18.3% of our committee is White. Statistically, the
Black population is overrepresented in the makeup of our committee. Additionally, our executive
committee is made up of one Latina woman, one Black woman, and two Black men. We forcefully
condemn Mr. McFadden for the aforementioned reasons. He knows his shameful statements are
untruths and attempts to inflame racial tensions with demonstrably false remarks that White people
have taken over our committee. It is difficult to adequately express how aghast we are that a current
elected official made hateful statements aimed at community activists, many of whom are his
constituents, with intent to delegitimize us.

We sincerely encourage Mr. McFadden to change course and follow the leaders of our
committee. Without the help of any elected official, a small group of progressive Black and Latino
community activists coalesced last summer in a determined effort to further empower our community
through the Democratic party. Inspired by President Barack Obamas grassroots campaign, we engaged
hundreds of neighbors in personal conversations and convinced many to get involved in the political
process. In his farewell address, President Obama exhorted us to do away with cynicism and be active in
every level of government. We heeded his advice and now work to bring a refreshing change to
Rochester politics.

We have a geographical, racial, and cultural diversity unlike any other committee in Rochester
and we eagerly embrace this fact. We have members who are Black, White, Latino and Asian. We have
members of different socioeconomic status, members of the LGBT community, and members of various
religious and cultural backgrounds. Although predominantly in the south, the 25th LD is the only
committee to geographically encapsulate parts of all four Rochester city quadrants, and we are proud to
boast the makeup of our committee reflects that reality.
ROC 25th Democratic Committee

After winning many seats by the voters in our district, we elected a diverse, young, and
energetic leadership team in our committee. Subsequently, we nearly doubled our committee size and
are on pace to have every seat filled by next month. We intend to host voter registration drives, public
educational community forums, and door-to-door canvassing initiatives to engage others and open the
democratic process to the entire community. Mr. McFaddens disrespect does not only target us, but
the voters who elected us to represent them and bring this refreshing change to Rochester.

In contrast, Mr. McFadden has been a leader of his committee for years and rarely holds
meetings. In fact, since his re-election he has failed to schedule even one regular meeting for his
committee. He disenfranchises us by stifling our voices, as opposed to empowering our community. He
could work to educate, organize and engage the public, but instead he demeans and bullies those who
do not follow his orders. We wish he would open the door to honest dialogue, but sadly he declared
that no candidate will get the endorsement of his committee unless they pledge fealty to Mayor
Warren.

It is disgraceful to the democratic process for leaders to bully and berate their constituents into
blind obedience. While some of our committee members support Mayor Warren, and others support
Rachel Barnhart or Jim Sheppard; we speak as one voice in condemnation of bigoted statements
targeting us. We expect Mayor Lovely Warren to publicly reprimand Councilmember McFadden for his
disparaging remarks made on her behalf and hope for an improved relationship of mutual respect
moving forward.

Sincerely,

Beatriz LeBron, Leader


Michael Poole, Chair
Paul Hypolite, Secretary
Renita Knight, Treasurer

Contact us at: roc25demcommittee@gmail.com

You might also like