As a New Year is fast approaching, so is the new mayor’s swearing-in in the City of Rochester. The people have spoken with their votes in the Primary on June 22, 2021 – Malik Evans won the primary by a 2-1 over incumbent Mayor Lovely Warren. Since there’s no Republican candidate on the ballot for the November 2nd general election, Evans will take the oath of office as Mayor on January 1, 2022. Evans ran on the mayoral platform stating, “I am running for mayor because I believe we must bridge the divides in our community and restore trust and transparency at City Hall.” This is not the first time Evans has sought and won the votes of Rochester residents or pursued the building bridges concept. He has a long distinguished record of community involvement and leadership in Rochester.
In 2003, Evans, a politician, and banker became the youngest person ever elected to the Rochester City School District. He served as president of the Board from 2008-2013, and since 2017 he has been a Member-At-Large on the Rochester City Council. When it comes to expertise related to serving in the position of Mayor, Evans feels blessed to have known and to have good relationships with the present Mayor and former mayors – William A. Johnson, Robert Duffy, and Thomas Richards. Based on their first-hand knowledge and experiences, these are the most qualified residents to advise him as he establishes his administration for the next four years. Evans campaigned on his ability to build bridges, and on his website, malikevans.org addresses his plans in the areas of Economic Empowerment, Public Safety, Neighborhoods, Government Trust, and Transparency. It is a plan which resonated with the voters and is worthy of an attempt; he acknowledges he can’t do it alone. A conversation with Mayor-Elect Williams: How can the community individually and collectively support your mission to build bridges?
Evans: First, I’ll need their prayers, and I’ll be praying a lot also. A mayor or an elected official is not a Messiah – one person will not be able to solve all of these problems. I can’t do these things by myself but need the support of the community at large. What I need from the community is to help me advance through the things we want to do. This includes the economic development space, in the guns space, in the educational space, the neighborhood space, and the crime and the police relations space. All of those things will be better by making sure the mayor has the support of the community. We won’t always agree as a community, but one thing we need is to feel the warmth of one another. So my mission is focused on togetherness, bringing people together, and collectively working to solve the city’s problems. I’m going to need them to reach out their hand, which may take on many roles. For example, the support around jobs for young people, which I am passionate about and believe keeps them out of trouble; community and business leaders can ask how they can contribute to that – in their respected places. Williams: How can residents communicate their support and ideas to your administration without meeting directly with you?
Evans: With over 200,000 residents, I can’t talk with everybody,11 but I can make sure City Hall has a system where we can hear their voices. Plans are in the works to have a portal, The Voices of the Citizens, where residents will have direct access to my City Hall staff to discuss ideas. There will be designated persons to look at it and get back to those requiring feedback. The portal system worked well during the campaigning. Williams: What can the Church community do to help build bridges and effect change in Rochester? Evans: I would love to see every church adopt their block where they are located and for every church to have an educational component that would engage young people. I believe education is the passport to the future. If churches did those two things, that would be so helpful. There are so many disconnected youths between the ages of 16-24 – if there were a way for us to engage that population, it would undoubtedly make a positive difference in this community. In many ways, I think churches are well-positioned to do it. Churches are in every neighborhood, and they are all over the community.
So if churches are doing it on the Eastside, some in the Northwest and Westside, etc., it’ll start to become and have the multiplying effect after a while. If we can do this, it will continue to send the message that education is essential. As I’ve said, prayer is the first thing! And, we know that faith without works is dead… I believe the work is engaging our young people, and that focuses on education. Well, Mr. Mayor-Elect: Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV)
