Rochester Reporter

The City of Rochester has reached a favorable settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), concluding litigation involving the city and its former finance director. The case, which stemmed from 2019 revelations about the Rochester City School District (RCSD) exceeding its budget, was resolved without monetary penalties or the requirement for monitorship. Instead, both parties agreed to forward-looking injunctions.

Mayor Malik Evans expressed satisfaction with the outcome, stating, “We are extremely pleased with this outcome. This completes a long legal argument that we felt confident in pursuing. I am especially proud that the City stood by its promise to protect its employees, regardless of whose administration they worked in.”

City Councilmember Mitch Gruber, Chair of Council’s Finance Committee, echoed these sentiments: “This precedent was worth fighting for, for City employees. No City employee should face financial penalties for situations that are squarely out of their control.”

The city has consistently maintained that RCSD operates independently from both the administration and City Council. Despite having a mandated budgetary commitment to RCSD and being legally obligated to issue debt on its behalf, RCSD is considered a separate legal entity with independent fiscal oversight.

Brian Feldman, partner at Aurelian Law and external legal counsel for Rochester in this matter, remarked on the significance of the settlement terms: “This is an exceptionally positive result of the City’s focused and consistent efforts in this case. These favorable terms seem to be unprecedented.”

According to available information from Rochester and its legal team, every municipal case settled by the SEC so far has involved either civil penalties or costly monitoring requirements—or both. However, such terms were not imposed on Rochester or its officers as part of this agreement.

The case is officially titled Securities and Exchange Commission v. City of Rochester and is filed under docket number 22-cv-6273 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. As part of their agreement with the SEC, Rochester neither admitted nor denied any allegations made against them.