When things go sideways in Rochester, taxpayers, not officials, pay the price

Former Rochester schools chief Annie Azarloza and the City of Rochester signed a settlement agreement last month, but we may never know why they parted ways (Courtesy photos)

Does this sound like a nondisclosure agreement?
"Except as set forth herein, the parties acknowledge and agree that the terms and conditions of thia release are otherwise confidential ..."
Does this sound like anyone did anything wrong?
"This settlement agreement and release is a compromise of disputed claims. This settlement agreement and release is not to be considered, construed or understood by the employee, the district, any news agencies, the general public, or any other person or entity, as an admission of liability, wrongdoing, or culpability ... the purpose of this agreement is to 'buy peace'".
You'll find both passages tucked away in an eight-page settlement agreement released by the city of Rochester last week.
But what we really want to know is "just who's buying the peace?"
Who's paying for the former Rochester Schools superintendent to get some $240,000 dollars for a two year contract in which she worked about eight months.
According to the agreement, she also got another $17,000 toward retirement funding, about $12,500 in annual and sick leave and fully paid medical insurance through next June.
Of course we all know who's gonna pay for it. It's all of the 33,000 residents of the city of Rochester and all the nonresidents who shop, dine and purchase goods in the city.
But what's even worse is that the residents of Rochester will never know whom is to blame, whom caused such an unbreachable rift that taxpayer money had to be used in what can only be described as a coverup.
Had the former superintendent and city gone to a civil trial, at least there would've been a summary judgment for the aggrieved party and we'd know who was culpable.
Now we got nothing, just empty wallets, with no reason to believe that this won't happen again.
"Democracy Dies in Darkness" is the official slogan of The Washington Post. It underscores the notion that a newspaper's role as a government watchdog is vital to safeguard our Democracy.
Last week in Rochester it got a little darker.