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Restoring Trust in City Hall | Buffalo in Transition
Caitlin Love Crowell — Jun 6, 2025
Buffalo’s city government must cultivate transparency, accountability, and good faith - qualities that are essential to public trust and effective democracy. But Buffalo falls short of ethical standards in several key areas, from nepotism and closed-door decision-making to inactive oversight bodies and political influence in public spending. This brief outlines practical, common-sense steps to rebuild trust: enforcing transparency laws, preventing conflicts of interest, strengthening …
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Reforming Buffalo's Tax Foreclosure Process
Jonathan Baird — Sep 30, 2011
The City of Buffalo holds an annual foreclosure auction to collect on delinquent taxes and fees owed by its residents. This is a way for the City to raise revenue that would otherwise go unpaid and for Buffalo citizens to buy buildings and lots at bargain prices. But the foreclosure process is imposing a high cost upon some of Buffalo’s most vulnerable citizens, creating an unnecessary burden on people trying to stay in their homes, and adding to the already existing epidemic …
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Responding to New York's Budget Crisis
Sam Magavern — Feb 10, 2011
Wealthy individuals and big businesses have benefited dramatically from reduced taxes and increased subsidies, and they should make a fair contribution to resolving New York’s budget crisis. Taxes on the very wealthy and reduction of corporate welfare will do much more to reinvigorate the economy and restore fiscal health than drastic cuts in health and education spending.