Rochester City Council president Loretta Scott not seeking reelection

The president of Rochester City Council will not be on the ballot come November.

Loretta Scott announced Friday she will not be running for re-election in 2021. In a statement, the three-term head of City Council said her time helping to guide changes in the City of Rochester has been a privilege.

Scott has spent more than 30 years of her career with City Hall in Rochester. She was appointed as the first Black woman to lead a department with the city, leading the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Humans Services as its commissioner.

In 2014, Scott was elected as president of Rochester City Council. She served three terms.

“We are all like snowballs, the sum of our experiences collectively packed together over the years, and propelled forward by the hands of others. This is how I have felt as Council President – that I been given the privilege of helping guide change for our City, and that so many have laid their hands on me to help me move in the right direction,” Scott said in a statement.

Mayor Lovely Warren thanked Scott for her public service.

“President Loretta Scott has been a trailblazer, and a shining example of a public servant, for her entire career,” Warren said in an emailed statement. “She has been steadfast in her work to lift up all people, particularly our Black and Brown residents, and always believed that a more just world benefits us all. I have been glad to be her colleague and partner, and will always be grateful for her counsel and wisdom. I wish President Scott nothing but the best moving forward and am eager to continue our work together during her final year on City Council.”