A planned town-hall meeting to address public safety in Rochester will continue tonight without the city’s police and fire chiefs.
Charlie O’Connell, one of seven candidates running for mayor, organized the event for 7:30 tonight at the VFW’s Gold Star Venue, 2775 43rd St. NW.
City Administrator Steve Rymer said city administration and the chiefs came to a mutual decision to back out of the event. He said the move is in keeping with how similar requests from candidates were handled.
“We have had a couple requests for city teammates to participate in forums/events hosted by this year’s candidates,” he wrote in an email this morning. “We have politely declined these invitations as it is not appropriate to participate in campaign-related events in our official capacity as city employees.”