Politics Now

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 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" »

A few odds and ends from Tuesday's Common Council committee meetings:

Parking restrictions

--The city will try to clarify its "confusing" rules related to parking in front parking meters on federal holidays, Parking Commissioner Kevin Helfer told the Legislation Committee.

Currently, city law explicitly allows free parking at some meters, but just in the downtown business district. However, the practice has been to allow free parking at all meters in the city on six federal holidays, said Helfer (pictured at left; photo by Charles Lewis/Buffalo News).

"To me, it makes sense to get rid of that confusion," he said.

Continue reading "City Hall notebook — parking, landmark, redevelopment project" »

We've got a new weekly feature on the Politics Now blog -- every Sunday, we're publishing a small question-and-answer with someone from the local political world. Instead of touching on the latest in policy issues and proposed legislation, the intent is to catch a glimpse of the person behind the title. The interviews are done via email. The interviewee supplied both biographical information and answered a series of questions.
 

North Council Member Joseph Golombek Jr., during a Jan. 24 Common Council meeting. (Derek Gee / Buffalo News)

Joseph Golombek Jr.

The basics
Job title: Buffalo Common Council member, North district
Age: 46 (47 on Groundhog Day)
Education: St. Joseph's Collegiate (freshman year); Riverside High School; Buffalo State College, (B.A. in History, minor in Polish, Russian and East European History); New York State Teaching Certificate for Social Studies, grades 7-12; M.S. Social Studies Education at Buffalo State; M.A. History, Renaissance through Napoleon at Marquette University.
Other employment: Lecturer at Buffalo State College
Party affiliation: Democrat
Previous work experience: Secondary Social Studies Teacher at Riverside High School. It was cool to give back to my alma mater, Welcome Back Golombek.
City Salary: $52,000 + $1,000 for chairing Community Development

The questions
What's your favorite restaurant? 
As can be seen from my girth there are many, but I like Faso's, the Viking Inn, Gramma Mora's, Emily's and Lone Star Fajita Grill.

What music have you been listening to lately?
Gordon Lightfoot, Sting, Four Seasons (as in Frankie Valli, I love NYC doowop), Tchaikovsky, Steely Dan, BNL, bluegrass and Simon and Garfunkel. I spend a lot of time in the car and have been listening to lectures from the Great Courses.

Who's your political hero?
I don't have one. Hero is something that should be reserved to real people who faced adversity. My father is a hero to me. He was born in Poland, lived through the Nazis and Communists, came to this country at 16 years of age and worked very hard at Ford Motor Company to give me opportunities that he never had. Frank World, who was killed for his country in Afghanistan, was my next door neighbor. He was a great kid.

I am interested in French Canadian history. One of their premieres, Maurice Duplessis, is one of my favorite figures. He was a five-time premiere and history has been harsh to him. When I first read about him I did not like him, but kept noticing that many good things happened while he was premiere. I started to study him more and realized that the historians who wrote about him were judging him by their biases. He was a conservative and they could not say anything nice about him. The more I read, the more I realized it was like I was reading a political pamphlet. That aggravated me.

Historians need to put their personal prejudices aside and treat history fairly. I decided that I liked Duplessis, warts and all. Buffalo and New York state could learn a lot by studying his time in office. Quebec had some of the same problems then that we have now.

What's one thing people don't know about you?
I collect military miniatures (little army men to the unenlightened) and have over 100,000.

Family Guy character Stewie Griffin is your Facebook profile photo. What do you like about Stewie and what's your favorite Family Guy episode?
I love Family Guy because they are irreverent towards everyone and everything. Sometimes I cringe at what they make fun of but they do it fairly, to everyone. Stewie is sort of a joke among my friends. Paul Wolf [former Common Council chief of staff] once said that Stewie has my sense of humor and personality. It has stuck.

He is my profile because in one episode he went to the future and asked if he had at least become a city councilmember. The guys at the bar I frequent thought that sealed the comparison. My favorite episode is probably ["Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington" because it includes the clip] "That Guy," because I love "That Girl," [the sitcom that starred Marlo Thomas].

--Aaron Besecker
Follow me on Twitter: @BeseckerBN

Proposed food truck rules are now in the hands of Mayor Byron W. Brown.

As I reported Tuesday, the Common Council passed a set of food truck rules, which must be signed by the mayor.

Once the City Clerk's Office certifies the results of the Council vote, the paperwork is forwarded to the mayor's office. The mayor would likely receive the documents Monday, Assisstant Corporation Counsel Timothy A. Ball said.

The mayor has 10 days in which he can sign the legislation into law, veto it or do nothing, and then it would become law after 10 days. If the measure is signed into law, it would take effect immediately.

One part of the matter that remained unresolved Tuesday was whether the any newly issued food truck licenses would be good until April 2013, or whether a license -- valid until April 1 of this year -- would be issued with a prorated fee.

After the passage, Peter V. Cimino told me Lloyd the taco truck will be growing, including adding a truck and employees.

Listen to part of our conversation:

South Council Member Michael P. Kearns placed the only vote against the proposed rules. He offered his own version, available here. The only changes he offered were lowering the fee from $1,000 to $395, as well as limiting the number of operating food trucks to one mobile vendor per city block.

Here's Kearns talking about the issue during Tuesday's Common Council meeting:

The bill sponsor, North Council Member Joseph Golombek Jr., spoke immediately after Kearns. Here's some of what he had to say:

--Aaron Besecker
Follow me on Twitter: @BeseckerBN

Customers visit The Whole Hog food truck last summer in downtown Buffalo. (Charles Lewis/Buffalo News)

A revised set of proposed rules for food trucks in the City of Buffalo has been unveiled with no change to the proposed $1,000 annual license fee.

Council President Richard A. Fontana, Niagara Council Member David A. Rivera and South Council Member Michael P. Kearns each said this week they'd like to see a lower proposed fee.

However, North Council Member Joseph Golombek Jr., the bill sponsor, said even though those three lawmakers have talked to him about it, he believes the proposal of $1,000 is fair.

"If you can afford $80,000 for a truck, I don't think a $1,000 fee is too excessive," Golombek said today.

Rivera said he initially took the position of having a lower fee because he wanted the city's fee to be more in line with the fees in other cities roughly the size of Buffalo, but there have been compromises as the law has developed and he will not push for a lower fee.

"If food trucks are willing to live with it, that's fine," Rivera said today.

When asked today whether the group was willing to accept the size of the fee, Mitchell M. Stenger, attorney for the Western New York Food Truck Association, said he was in the midst of canvassing his members.

As The Buffalo News reported last week, changes were already planned to the draft regulations. The amendments that have been proposed -- all of which were suggested by a group of food truck owners -- are:

--Distance: Food trucks must stay at least 100 feet from "the nearest edge of any building or section of a building comprising a licensed food establishment, excluding any patio, awning or temporary enclosure attached thereto..." where there is an open kitchen.

The previous version of the proposed rules called for a 100-foot buffer between a food truck and the property line of a restaurant with an open kitchen.

--Garbage cans: Removing a requirement for two, 65-gallon garbage cans and replacing it with the mandate that food trucks "must be equipped with trash receptacles of a sufficient capacity that shall be changed as necessary to prevent overflow or the creation of litter or debris."

--Hearing: Any food truck cited for its third violation would still be subject to an order to close immediately. However, the newest version of the proposed rules would allow the food truck to remain in operation until a hearing is held and a determination is made by the city.

Police or the Department of Permits and Inspections would still be able to force a a food truck to stop operating at a location if a blatant violation if found and its the third offense, but it wouldn't be an indefinite closure subject to a hearing, Golombek said.

Under the law, a hearing would be required within 60 days.

Golombek said he would have preferred a smaller time frame for the hearing, but he has been told by City License Director Patrick Sole Jr. that a hearing could not be guaranteed within the a shorter window if less than 60 days was required.

The previous version of the rules did not allow the food truck to remain in operation once it was shut down and a hearing was needed.

Golombek said that while the existing food truck operators generally have been "pretty good" at following the rules, he wants rules in place in case the next round of operators aren't as complaint.

"I'm concerned about he next level of food trucks," Golombek said. "...I want to make sure that they're as good as these guys are now."

Read the new rules here. And here are some video clips of the debate on food trucks in Common Council Chambers last week.

--Aaron Besecker
Follow me on Twitter: @BeseckerBN

Update: 12:44 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 5

Here's some audio from Roaming Buffalo's Chris Taylor:

4:50 p.m. Jan 4: As a vote nears on proposed food truck regulations, here's a glimpse of what people were saying inside Common Council chambers in City Hall today:

Mitchell M. Stenger, attorney for Western New York Food Truck Association

Michael H. Kooshoian, attorney for Entrepreneurs for a Better Buffalo

Ronald A. Lucchino, president of Elmwood Taco & Subs

North Council Member Joseph Golombek Jr.

John Fusco, owner of Zetti's Pizza & Pasta

Stay tuned. I'll be adding more video clips. That's all the clips for now. Enjoy.

--Aaron Besecker
Follow me on Twitter: @BeseckerBN

Update 4:33 p.m.: Kearns did not keep Finance Committee chairmanship -- that went to Delaware Council Member Michael J. LoCurto.

Here's my story.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Masten Council Member Demone A. Smith said he expects to be named the Common Council majority leader when city lawmakers reorganize this afternoon.

Smith also said University Council Member Bonnie E. Russell will become the new president pro temp of the Council -- which will come with additional duties but no $2,500 stipend -- when the Council holds its reorganizational meeting at 2 p.m. in Council Chambers.

As we already knew, current Majority Leader Richard A. Fontana will take over as Council president, with Fillmore Council Member David A. Franczyk set to lose the post he's held for eight years.

Also according to Smith, who was packing up his Council office today getting ready for a move to the majority leader's office:

--South Council Member Michael P. Kearns will stay chairman of the Finance Committee.

--Ellicott Council Member Darius G. Pridgen will become the new Legislation Committee chairman, with the previous chairman, North Council Member Joseph Golombek Jr., taking over the Community Development Committee from Delaware Council Member Michael J. LoCurto.

--Russell will keep the chairmanship of the Civil Service Committee, and Niagara Council Member David A. Rivera will stay chairman of the Claims Committee.

A majority vote of the Council is required for leadership and chairmanship posts.

Fontana, Smith, Russell, Pridgen and Golombek are part of the new Council majority, as Fontana had been aligned with Franczyk, Kearns, LoCurto and Rivera.

Leadership positions, except for president pro temp, and chairmanships come with stipends: $10,000 for president; $5,000 for majority leader, and $1,000 each for the committee chairmen.

--Aaron Besecker
Follow me on Twitter: @BeseckerBN