Lovely Ann Warren (born July 1, 1977) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 69th mayor of
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
from 2014 until her resignation in 2021. She was previously the President of the Rochester City Council. She was the first woman to serve as mayor of Rochester, as well as the second African-American after
William A. Johnson Jr.
Early life and education
Warren was born and raised in
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
. Her mother, Elrita Warren, a South Carolina native, who once worked at
Kodak
The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
, ultimately became a health aide in nursing homes and hospitals.
Warren graduated from
Wilson Magnet High School
Joseph C. Wilson Magnet High School, sometimes referred to as Wilson Magnet or just Wilson, is a public high school in Rochester, New York. It is in the Rochester City School District.
Performance
Wilson Magnet performs better than other high sc ...
and later earned a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degree in Government from
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts c ...
, followed by a
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
degree from
Albany Law School
Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and has an affiliation agreement with University at A ...
of Union University.
Career
Warren began her career as a legislative assistant and chief of staff to New York Assemblyman
David F. Gantt. She clerked for Rochester City Court Judge Teresa Johnson. She served as summer law clerk to New York Attorney General
Eliot Spitzer
Eliot Laurence Spitzer (born June 10, 1959) is an American politician and attorney. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was the 54th governor of New York from 2007 until his resignation in 2008.
Spitzer was b ...
. In 2004, Warren was admitted to the
New York State Bar Association
The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of New York. The mission of the association is to cultivate the science of jurisprudence; promote reform in the law; facilitate the administration of justice ...
.
In 2007 Warren was elected to the Rochester's City Council. In 2010 she was elected as the fifth president of the Rochester City Council, the youngest in Rochester's history.
In 2011, she was a participant in the We Live NY Summit at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
. She has appeared on panels sponsored by Rochester Downtown Development Corporation and the Rochester Chapter of the League of Women Voters. She also hosts a youth event at City Hall for students of the
Rochester City School District
The Rochester City School District is a public school district that serves approximately 24,900 students in the city of Rochester, New York. It is currently operating with a budget of $983 million, which comes out to approximately $39,500 per st ...
. She has been a guest speaker at events for young people in the Rochester City School District and colleges including, the
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees.
The University of Roc ...
,
Albany Law School
Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and has an affiliation agreement with University at A ...
of
Union University
Union University is a private Baptist Christian university in Jackson, Tennessee, with additional campuses in Germantown and Hendersonville. The university is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist Convention). It is ...
,
Towson University
Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its founding, the university h ...
and
Howard University
Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...
.
2013 Rochester mayoral election
She won the 2013 Democratic primary over incumbent mayor Thomas Richards 57 percent to 42 percent.
While Richards endorsed Warren and ended his active campaign, he remained a candidate on the
Independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
and
Working Families lines. The Independence Party created the grassroots ''Turn Out for Tom'' campaign in an effort to get Richards re-elected mayor. Warren defeated Richards in the general election 55 to 39 percent.
Tenure
![LovelyWarrenLaborDayParade2014](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/LovelyWarrenLaborDayParade2014.JPG)
Warren was sworn in as Rochester's 69th mayor on January 1, 2014. She began her second term on January 1, 2018 after winning re-election in 2017.
Since taking office, Mayor Warren has focused on "job creation, fostering safer and more vibrant neighborhoods and improving educational opportunities for Rochester’s residents." Warren also oversaw the Inner Loop East project, started under the Richards administration, which filled in the eastern section of the
Inner Loop Inner loop may refer to:
*Inner loop in computer programs
*Inner Loop (Phoenix), a section of Interstate 10 in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, United States
*Inner Loop (Rochester), an expressway around downtown Rochester, New York, United States
* Inne ...
expressway, turning it into a street and allowing for construction of new buildings.
Warren has launched several strategic initiatives, including the introduction of a Kiva crowd funding loan program, a Vanpool, support for
ride-sharing
Carpooling (also car-sharing, ride-sharing and lift-sharing) is the sharing of car journeys so that more than one person travels in a car, and prevents the need for others to have to drive to a location themselves.
By having more people usi ...
such as
Uber
Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...
and
Lyft
Lyft, Inc. offers mobility as a service, ride-hailing, vehicles for hire, motorized scooters, a bicycle-sharing system, rental cars, and food delivery in the United States and select cities in Canada. Lyft sets fares, which vary using a dynamic ...
, and a market-driven community co-operative called OWN Rochester.
Under Warren's direction, the
Rochester Police Department
The Rochester Police Department, also known as the RPD, is the principal law enforcement agency of the City of Rochester, New York, reporting to the city mayor. It currently has approximately 852 officers and support staff, a budget of approxima ...
underwent a reorganization to implement a neighborhood-based patrol model that converted the patrol structure from two Patrol Divisions (each covering half of the city) to five smaller Patrol Sections. The RPD also implemented a successful
body worn video
A body camera, bodycam, body worn video (BWV), body-worn camera, or wearable camera is a wearable audio, video, or photographic recording system.
Body cameras have a range of uses and designs, of which the best-known use is as a part of poli ...
program during Warren's first term.
Warren convened an early learning council to help expand Pre-K programs in the city. She also developed a "3 to 3 Initiative" to help children to set three-year-old children on a path to read at grade level by third grade. To help achieve these goals, she eliminated fines for children's books and materials at city libraries.
In December 2016, Warren ended the city's
red light camera
A red light camera (short for red light running camera ) is a type of traffic enforcement camera that photographs a vehicle that has entered an intersection after the traffic signal controlling the intersection has turned red. By automatically phot ...
program. The
insurance industry
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
objected, citing its own studies which showed that cities that had used red light cameras between 2010 and 2014 had had a 21% drop in the number of fatal red light running crashes, while cities that had stopped using the cameras had had a 30% increase in such deaths. In response to these studies, Warren justified her decision to remove the cameras by saying, "I reached the conclusion the
benefits
Benefit or benefits may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Benefit'' (album), by Jethro Tull, 1970
* "Benefits" (''How I Met Your Mother''), a 2009 TV episode
* '' The Benefit'', a 2012 Egyptian action film
Businesses and organisatio ...
simply don't justify a further extension... I'm very concerned that too many of these tickets have been issued to those who simply can't afford them, which is counter-productive to our efforts to reverse our city's troubling rates of
poverty
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...
."
Though designated as an
elector
Elector may refer to:
* Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors
* Elector, a member of an electoral college
** Confederate elector, a member of ...
in the
2020 Presidential Election
This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*5 January:
**C ...
, New York Assembly Majority leader
Crystal Peoples-Stokes
Crystal Davis Peoples-Stokes (born December 22, 1951) is an American politician serving as Majority Leader of the New York State Assembly representing Assembly District 141, which includes the city of Buffalo within Erie County, New York.
Educat ...
, served as her alternate.
On June 22, 2021, following a troubled second term, Warren lost the
Democratic primary
This is a list of Democratic Party presidential primaries.
1912
This was the first time that candidates were chosen through primaries. New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson ran to become the nominee, and faced the opposition of Speaker of the Uni ...
to Rochester city councilman
Malik Evans
Malik D. Evans is an American politician and banker who is the 71st and current Mayor of Rochester, New York. A member of the Democratic Party, Evans previously served on the Rochester City Council as an at-large member and on the Rochester City ...
, conceding the race to Evans later that night. As part of a plea deal to resolve her charges of breaking campaign finance rules in the 2017 election, Warren formally stepped down as mayor on December 1, with deputy mayor James Smith serving as acting mayor until Evans was inaugurated on January 1, 2022.
Her final act in office was to submit a proposal for a
guaranteed basic income
Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive an unconditional transfer payment, that is, without a means test or need to work. It would be received independently of a ...
pilot program for impoverished families in the city.
Controversies
Warren's
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
account was temporarily suspended on December 22, 2014, when pictures of a chat log were shared over the internet and social media.
Allegations and conviction of election campaign finance meddling
Following the
2017 Rochester mayoral election, in which two of Warren's primary opponents filed separate complaints, the
New York State Board of Elections
The New York State Board of Elections is a bipartisan agency of the New York state government within the New York State Executive Department responsible for enforcement and administration of election-related laws. It also regulates campaign fina ...
found evidence that Warren's campaign violated finance and campaigning laws with her
PAC, and alleged that the mayor was directly involved. Warren's lawyer denied the allegations.
In October 2020, Warren was indicted on two felony charges of breaking campaign finance rules. She pled not guilty to both charges. Had the case gone to trial and resulted in a conviction, she faced up to a four-year prison sentence, having her law license revoked, and being removed from office as mayor.
On October 4, 2021, Warren accepted a plea deal prior to her trial that would downgrade her felony charges to misdemeanors, with two assistants also pleading guilty. As part of the deal, which also resolves charges from an unrelated case, she retained her law license but was forced to resign as mayor, effective on December 1.
Death of Daniel Prude
Warren faced significant backlash after the March 2020
Death of Daniel Prude at the hands of Rochester police and her failure to publicly comment on the investigation into it.
On March 12, 2021, a probe by the city council determined that Mayor Warren and then-Rochester
Chief of Police
Chief may refer to:
Title or rank
Military and law enforcement
* Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force
* Chief of police, the head of a police department
* Chief of the boa ...
La'Ron Singletary concealed critical details about Prude's death from the public and lied about their knowledge of the case.
Husband's arrest
On May 19, 2021, the
New York State Police
The New York State Police (NYSP) is the state police of the state of New York in the United States. It is part of the New York State Executive Department, and employs over 5,000 sworn state troopers and 711 civilian members.
History
The State ...
served a warrant at her house in accordance with a seven-month long wiretap investigation related to a “significant” mid-level narcotics ring. Timothy Granison, Warren’s husband, was arrested, alleged to be a part of the operation. Seven other homes around the city were raided, and six others were charged. The raids yielded more than two kilos of crack and powdered cocaine - with a value estimated around $60,000 - several firearms, and over $100,000 in cash.
Granison was arraigned on charges of possession of 31 grams of cocaine with intent to sell, and illegal possession of a handgun. Police say the drugs were found in his car during a traffic stop, and the gun was found in the mayor’s house during the search. A semi-automatic rifle was also found in the home, with an unknown legal status. Granison pled not guilty and was released on his own recognizance.
Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley said the narcotics investigation is separate from campaign finance fraud investigation of Warren, and that Warren is uninvolved. Doorley denied any political motivation for the investigation, noting that Granison was not the original target of the wiretap, and that once she was aware of his involvement, “we followed the evidence, as simply as that”. Though Warren was not charged with drug possession, she was later indicted on July 16, 2021 along with Granison for criminal possession of a firearm, two counts of child endangerment, and two counts of failure to lock/secure firearms in a dwelling. Warren's charges in this case were resolved as part of the her plea deal involving her campaign finance case.
Granison was previously part of a 1997 armed robbery of a jewelry store, when he was 17. Granison — the getaway driver — pled guilty to the charges, was given five years probation, and had his criminal record wiped after being granted youthful offender status. This was a point of debate in the
2013 mayoral election.
Personal life
Warren and her husband Timothy Granison have one daughter together. Following Granison's arrest on drug and weapons charges in 2021, Warren has stated that she and Granison had been "legally separated" for several years.
In a press conference, Warren added, "I find the timing of yesterday's events, three weeks before early voting
mayoral_primary.html" ;"title="2021 Rochester mayoral election">mayoral primary">2021 Rochester mayoral election">mayoral primarystarts, to be highly suspicious," and, "There's nothing implicating me in these charges announced today, because I've done nothing wrong."
In 2016 Warren put a red, white and blue sign next to
Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony (born Susan Anthony; February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to s ...
's grave the day after
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
officially won the nomination for President at the
2016 Democratic National Convention
The 2016 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention, held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 25 to 28, 2016. The convention gathered delegates of the Democratic Party, the majo ...
. The sign stated, "Dear Susan B., we thought you might like to know that for the first time in history, a woman is running for president representing a major party. 144 years ago, your illegal vote got you arrested. It took another 48 years for women to finally gain the right to vote. Thank you for paving the way."
References
External links
*
Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Lovely
1977 births
African-American mayors in New York (state)
Albany Law School alumni
John Jay College of Criminal Justice alumni
Living people
Mayors of Rochester, New York
New York (state) Democrats
Lawyers from Rochester, New York
2016 United States presidential electors
Women in New York (state) politics
Women mayors of places in New York (state)
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
New York (state) politicians convicted of crimes
New York (state) politicians convicted of corruption
African-American city council members in New York (state)
Women city councillors in New York (state)
Rochester City Council members (New York)
2020 United States presidential electors
21st-century African-American women
21st-century African-American politicians
20th-century African-American people
20th-century African-American women
African-American women mayors