By Jill Terreri
Good morning,
This afternoon the team from IBM is expected to deliver their report about how the city can connect people ages 16 to 24 with jobs.
Buffalo won a "Smarter Cities" challenge grant from the technology company, which provided the city with the expertise of five IBM executives for three weeks. The city chose youth employment as the topic the team would tackle. Team members have interviewed people inside and outside of City Hall to understand why youth employment is high and what initiatives are already underway.
Continue reading "Today in City Hall" »
By Jill Terreri
Mayor Byron Brown's proposed $482.5 million spending plan is up for a vote by the Common Council during a special meeting at 3 p.m. today in Council Chambers.
Council leadership and the administration are working out the details this morning, and the amendments have not been printed up, I'm told.
The Council's budget hearings involved questions to department heads related to many matters outside of what was contained in the budget, so it's unclear what Council members will do to change the proposal.
Continue reading "Today in City Hall: Budget vote" »
By Jill Terreri
Good morning,
Today Mayor Byron Brown will welcome a team from IBM, which is offering technical assistance to the city through its "Smarter Cities" program.
The grant offers services to help the city address quality of life issues using data, valued at $400,000. A team will be in Buffalo for three weeks.
The city already uses data through its CitiStat program to decide where to make investments and to place staff. The city's Clean Sweep program is also data-driven, and is based on calls to 911 and its 311 center, which handles non-emergency complaints about illegal dumping, rats, broken street lights and other quality of life issues.
Continue reading "Today in City Hall: Smarter Cities" »
By Jill Terreri
Mayor Byron Brown's 2013-14 budget will be released at 3 p.m. today.
Brown has previously pledged that he will not raise taxes, so a tax increase is highly unlikely.
Major questions to be asked include how much of the city's unassigned fund balance will be used, which has been a concern for credit rating agencies, which otherwise think highly of the city's finances.
Other questions will center on whether the city's workforce will change, and whether property taxes are projected in future years. The city's four-year plan should also come out today.
Last year's spending plan was $482.6 million. Property tax revenues have been falling, and the city last year had $18.7 million in an advance of state aid that it won't have this year, meaning the city could have less revenue.
Council Majority Leader Demone Smith, who is an ally of the mayor's, said this morning that he hasn't seen it yet. In past years, the Council got a preview.
The Council met briefly at 11 a.m. this morning to accept the budget, but had to recess until 4 p.m. because it isn't ready yet.
The mayor is required to present a budget by May 1, and the Council has until May 22 to approve it, or it stands as presented.
Comptroller Mark J.F. Schroeder will issue a budget response by May 10.
The new budget year begins July 1.
April 30, 2013 - 10:20 AM
By Jill Terreri
Good morning,
Today the Common Council will meet at 2 p.m. and will vote on whether a massive former windshield wiper factory at Washington and Goodell streets should be designated a local landmark. The decision could play a key role in determining whether the structure, which housed the Trico factory, is demolished or remains. The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, which holds exclusive development rights to the property, is against the landmark designation, saying it would inhibit what can be done on the property, while preservationists say it can be re-used.
Ellicott Council Member Darius Pridgen - whose vote is key because he represents the area - yesterday did not say how he would vote on the designation.
The Council will also pass a resolution calling on the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority to grant development rights for the Outer Harbor to a group that is interested in building a 72,000-seat football stadium, museum, and convention center. The NFTA said it will not do that.
Continue reading "Today in City Hall: Council to vote on Trico" »
By Robert J. McCarthy
Ask Buffalo Comptroller Mark J.F. Schroeder about running for mayor in 2013 and he'll provide his standard non-answer.
"I've said all along, I have no plans to run for mayor," he said again this week.
Indeed, the comptroller has not discussed even with friends the possibility of challenging Mayor Byron W. Brown and possibly Bernard Tolbert, the former Buffalo FBI chief who has formed a fund-raising committee. And Schroeder has not even hinted at efforts to raise the hundreds of thousands of dollars needed for a serious shot at City Hall.
Continue reading "Schroeder has 'no plans' for mayoral run, but..." »
By Jill Terreri
Good morning,
Today is shaping up to be a busy day in City Hall.
UPDATE: Mayor Byron W. Brown will annouce plans for a spring gun buyback at 11 a.m. today at police headquarters.
Plans to transform an old building used for refrigeration near the I-190 downtown will go before the Planning Board at 8:15 a.m. today.
Ellicott Development is planning offices, apartments, a restaurant and small banquet facility in the old "Coffee Rich" building at 199 Scott St., which also features a political billboard.
The board will also hear about plans for a new restaurant and apartment at 3233 Bailey Ave., and a request for an outdoor cafe and patio at Bertha's, 1416 Hertel Ave.
Meanwhile, the Common Council's committees will also meet today.
Continue reading "Today in City Hall: 'Coffee Rich' renovations face approval" »
By Robert J. McCarthy
If there was one topic Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo seemed to passionately defend during his visit to Buffalo this week, it was his new gun control legislation that ranks as among the toughest in the nation.
"Keeping guns from criminals and the mentally ill?" he said during a conversation with the editorial board of The Buffalo News. "Who could argue with that?"
Continue reading "Cuomo points to gun law success -- with or without Byron Brown" »
By Robert J. McCarthy
It didn't take long on Tuesday for one participant in the Buffalo mayoral race to acknowledge the expected candidacy of Democrat Bernard Tolbert after sources indicated the former head of the Buffalo FBI would form a campaign finance committee.
And for announced Republican candidate Sergio Rodriguez, it was all about even having a race for mayor in 2013. As far as he was concerned Tuesday, at least there will be a contest against Democratic incumbent Byron W. Brown, whom some thought might go unchallenged this year in his bid for a third term.
“We
welcome the entry of a new candidate into the race and are pleased to see
democracy in action," Rodriguez said. "For the first time in nearly a decade, voters will be given
a choice in the general election regardless of the outcome in the primary."
By Robert J. McCarthy
Bernard Tolbert, the former chief of the Buffalo FBI who is weighing a bid for mayor this year, has received lots of unsolicited advice in past weeks.
Some friends are telling him he has waited too long to declare his candidacy. Others say he is right to "keep everyone guessing" as he continues exploring a Democratic primary race against two-term incumbent Byron W. Brown -- who officially announces on Saturday.
But Tolbert is still not offering any hints, even as he attends a host of citywide events like last Friday's St. Patrick's luncheon at the Buffalo Irish Center and the 60th annual dinner of the National Federation of Just Communities Wednesday night at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo.
Continue reading "Tolbert's delay in declaring mayoral candidacy has roots in history " »
