Politics Now

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

The Common Council kicked off its budget workshops this morning in relatively brief meetings with some of the city's largest departments. 

The questions tended to deal with matters of concern to the Council, not necessarily what was in the budget. 

The Taxation and Assessment Department discussed the inquiries they were getting about the state's STAR program, which offers property tax breaks to homeowners. Basic STAR recipients must re-apply this year - senior STAR recipients re-apply every year. The city department doesn't administer the program, but it does send out the tax bills. Department officials said they worried that the state won't be able to tell them all of the properties that should be getting the exemption until June, and property tax bills must be mailed by July 1. 

Continue reading "Today in City Hall: Budget and Broderick Park" »

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

An effort to designate the Trico Complex a local landmark failed in the Common Council today in a 4-4 vote. 

Voting against the measure was Ellicott Council Member Darius Pridgen, whose district includes the building, and Council President Richard Fontana, Majority Leader Demone Smith and Council Member Chris Scanlon. 

Voting in favor of landmark status for Trico were Council Members David Franczyk, Joseph Golombek, David Rivera and Michael LoCurto. 

Council Member Bonnie Russell did not attend Tuesday's meeting. 

The Council requires five votes to approve any measure. The matter will not come up for another vote unless another landmark application is made. 

Pridgen said his vote was not based on the desires of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, which owns development rights to the property and was against the landmark designation. But Pridgen said the campus should work with the preservation community to find a re-use of the building and should move swiftly to develop the property, though he believes some of the structure is too far gone to rehabilitate it. 

Council members who voted in favor of the designation said the city's own preservation law provides for landmark status for buildings that meet one out of nine criteria, and that the Trico building meets seven. 

Public comment is generally not permitted at Council meetings, and those in favor and against landmark status weighed in during two previous Council committee meetings. 

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 Jill Terreri

Good morning, 

Preservation Buffalo Niagara will hold a news conference at noon today on the steps of City Hall in an effort to pressure the Common Council to designate the Trico complex a local landmark, which would give the city's Preservation Board more say in any proposal to demolish it. 

The Council is set to vote tomorrow on Trico's landmark status. Ellicott Council Member Darius Pridgen's district includes the building, and other lawmakers will likely take their cues from Pridgen. Pridgen did not say last week how he will vote, but noted that many from the neighborhood who spoke during Tuesday's Legislation Committee were not in favor of saving the building. 

UPDATE: During a brief interview this afternoon, Pridgen said there will be a vote on the landmark designation tomorrow, but he would not say how he would vote. 

In a separate interview today, Matthew K. Enstice, president and CEO of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, which owns development rights to Trico, said the Medical Campus is not in favor of landmarking the building, but is willing to work with developers and preservationists on re-using the former factory. 

Continue reading "Today in City Hall: Trico" »

By Jill Terreri

Good morning,

Beginning today, just outside of City Hall, work is set to start on a $600,000 makeover of Niagara Square, which should come as welcome news to anyone who has traveled around the square on foot or in a wheelchair. Improvements include accessible ramps, new curbs and sidewalks, and highly visible pedestrian crossings, which can be expected to be a big upgrade from the haphazard signage that is there now. 

The square will also be repaved, as well as a block on each intersecting street. Work is expected to be completed by Memorial Day, though the start and end dates are weather dependent.    

Continue reading "Today in City Hall: Niagara Square gets a makeover" »

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" »

The Buffalo Common Council, which unanimously voted to ban hydraulic fracturing in the city, hosted an anti-fracking organization during a news conference today in City Hall. 

Council Majority Leader Demone A. Smith said even if Buffalo isn't a prime candidate for fracking, upstate officials should stick together.

Continue reading "Council members reiterate anti-fracking stand" »

By Jill Terreri

Good morning, 

It appears that the Common Council has settled on a chief of staff. Majority Leader Demone Smith said that Rasheed Wyatt, who is a senior legislative assistant on the Council's central staff, will be selected to fill the vacant chief of staff position. 

Such an appointment requires five votes from the nine-member Council, and Wyatt appears to have the support he needs, Smith said. 

Smith is the leader of a six-member majority that includes Council President Richard Fontana of Lovejoy, University Council Member Bonnie Russell, Ellicott Council Member Darius Pridgen, South Council Member Christopher Scanlon, and North Council Member Joseph Golombek.

In October, Wyatt's promotion to his current position was confirmed by the Council without debate.

Wyatt would replace Kevin Linder, whose last day was Jan. 4. Deputy Chief of Staff Todd McAlister has been running the office since then. 

Also today, top officials from Brown administration will question Public Works Commissioner Steve Stepniak and his staff during a CitiStat meeting at 11 a.m. Public Works is a sweeping department whose work affects every city resident, from clearing streets of snow, paving, park maintenence and garbage collection. A live blog of the meeting will appear in a separate post on Politics Now. 

Earlier this morning, the Environmental Management Commission met on the ninth floor, where Chairman Joseph Gardella expressed frustration with the way the commission's input has not been sought on environmentally sensitive projects, such as the new South Buffalo Charter School. 

Lawyer Adam Walters, representing Niagara Metals, and West Hertel Association Chairperson Margaret Szczepaniec appeared at the meeting to express their concerns about a scrap metal recycling facility proposed for the corner of Hertel and Military. Ben Weitsman and Son of Buffalo would like to take over the former Auto City of Buffalo junkyard. The plan was delayed by the Planning Board yesterday, as the board told Weitsman representatives to do a further noise study. While some neighbors are concerned about the project, a few observers noted yesterday that Rocco Termini, who is investing $30 million nearby, did not voice any objections to the project at the Planning Board, where his project and the Weitsmans' project was on the agenda. The Common Council has also delayed action on the project. It appears no approvals will be granted until at least Jan. 29.