Each fall, Partnership for the Public Good (PPG) leads a democratic process among its more than 370 partners to determine the Community Agenda for the coming year. Opening the event, Dejia James, Director of Policy Advancement and Media at PPG, said, “We are so excited today to reveal to you all your Community Agenda, that you voted for.”

The 2025 Community Agenda includes TEN policy change priorities:

1.  Fully Restore Olmsted's Humboldt Parkway and Delaware Park by Removing the Kensington and Scajaquada Expressways

2.  Pilot a Community Responder Team in Erie County

3.  Public Good for Public Dollars: Pass a Community Benefits Agreement Law for Erie County

4.  End Unfair Suspensions in Buffalo Public Schools

5.  Adopt Ranked Choice Voting in the City of Buffalo

6.  Pass Good Cause Eviction Protections to Ensure Housing Stability for Buffalo Renters

7.  Treatment Not Jail: Expand Access to and Modernize Treatment Courts in Buffalo

8.  Fully Implement Proactive Rental Inspections in the City of Buffalo

9.  Fulfill the City of Buffalo’s Annual Commitment to Fund the Arts

10.  Pass the Working Families Tax Credit to Help Families Thrive in New York State

The full text of each plank is available here.

On the number one priority of Fully Restoring Olmsted's Humboldt Parkway and Delaware Park by Removing the Kensington and Scajaquada Expressways, Sherry Sherrill of the East Side Parkways Coalition stated, “We need to stand – all of us, united as one voice – [and say] to our public elected officials, ‘We can’t restore the quality of health that is due to residents of the Humboldt Parkway neighborhood without your help.’ ”

On reforming Buffalo Public School suspension policy and implementing NYS Education Department Recommendations, Samantha White, Esq. of the Western New York Law Center, said, “Our focus is to have Buffalo Public Schools enact the New York State Education Department recommendations which aim to decrease suspensions. Buffalo has been plagued by a decades-long suspension disparity issue. It disproportionately affects students of color, students with disabilities, students that are in poverty, students who are learning English as a second language. This administration is uniquely situated to solve this problem and leave a legacy of equity for generations of students to come.”

Rusty Weaver from the Cornell Industrial Labor Relations Buffalo Co-Lab spoke about the importance of passing a Community Benefits Agreement law in Erie County. “Have you heard this story that we’re in a renaissance?” he asked. “Well, when you have a child poverty rate of 40%, and we have housing that continues to be more and more unaffordable, that narrative falls kind of flat.” One way to address this, he said, would be to make sure that whenever development happens, the public ought to be guaranteed a voice and benefits. In other words, “If you’re going to get some of our dollars, we want something in return.”

Andrea O Suilleabhain, Executive Director at PPG said, “It’s so important to believe that we can build a more just, sustainable, compassionate community at the local and state level, that gives dignity to all of our neighbors and all of our families. The elected officials that we have with us today are here because they are our partners in that struggle and that long-term fight.”

Eight elected officials from the NY State Legislature, Erie County Legislature, Buffalo Common Council, and Buffalo Board of Education joined the meeting to voice their support for items on the Community Agenda.

Several legislators spoke about the need to ensure safe, affordable housing.

NYS Senator April Baskin said, “We see on Zillow that Buffalo was named the top real estate market in the country for the second year straight. It’s an amazing recognition for our city, and it reflects the importance of creating more sustainable housing for people who call Buffalo home.”

NYS Senator Sean Ryan called for the City to implement its rental housing inspections law. He said, “Buffalo would not have had a vacancy and abandonment crisis if we had inspected our buildings. And it’s still going on today. In Rochester, they’ve made it a goal of their municipality to look inside of buildings, and they’ve been doing it for two generations…. And you know what they don’t have? They don’t have our lead poisoning problem.”

NYS Assembly Member Jon Rivera agreed that addressing lead and housing safety are top priorities. He said, “Lead poisoning is a health crisis, and it’s a health crisis that we could eradicate in one generation. It’s so clear. Not only are we not doing enough inspections in Buffalo, we’re not even doing the inspections that we are doing correctly. We’re not reinvesting the fees that we collect from those inspections back into the process; instead, it’s going into the general fund of the city, which is not right.”

Buffalo Common Council Member Rasheed Wyatt added his support for implementing proactive rental inspection and passing Good Cause eviction protections in Buffalo. He said, “A lot of these planks are common sense. Proactive Rental Inspections--it’s common sense. We have poor housing in this city. People are forced into that situation. They’re not given the opportunity to have good quality housing, because we turn a blind eye.”

On the creation of a Community Benefits law for Erie County, Erie County Legislator Taisha St. Jean Tard said, “As the Economic Committee Chair of the Legislature, this is important. When dollars are coming from our community, how does the community benefit from it? Benefits should be more than a couple dollars to a block club, or a donation to one event. Let’s really make sure we’re seeing a benefit for years to come, not one time only.”

Adding his support for this priority, Erie County Legislator Lawrence Dupre said, “A Community Benefits Agreement, I think that’s an amazing thing, and that’s what we need to do. Development that happens here should be under a Community Benefits Agreement. Any community we’re in should get something from it.”

On the priority of suspension reform in Buffalo Public Schools, Buffalo Board of Education member Cindi McEachon said, “On behalf of the Board of Ed, we want to thank PPG and the greater community for all the work that you’ve done to bring awareness to the topic of student suspensions. There is an opportunity to reimagine how we approach suspensions in our district. With a shared vision, I am optimistic that together the Board of Ed, Buffalo Public School District, and our various coalition members will build on this plank by doing it together. We are in a unique space to be part of the solution. And the time is now.”

Buffalo Board of Education member Adrianna Zullich added, “I would like to see Buffalo Public Schools become a leader in reducing suspensions and identifying more productive corrective action. Adopting a more inclusive model will reduce disparity.”