For this summary, we will report on the Caucus and Regular meetings. ‘Council Member’ is abbreviated as CM; ‘Council President’ as CP; ‘President Pro Tempore’ as PT; and ‘Majority Leader’ as ML.
 
In the Caucus meeting, CMs marked many items “receive and file.” When a member of the public submits a letter—an “item”—to the council, they can either send it to a committee for more discussion or “receive and file” it. “This means,” notes PPG’s guide to getting involved, “that the council is putting your item in the public record (filing it), removing it from meeting agendas, and moving on. If the council receives and files your item, it won’t go to a committee, and you won’t be able to speak on your item.”
 
Items that were put aside included a letter from the Allentown Association, asking the council to establish an oversight committee for Housing Court; a report by CM Wyatt about the city owing money to homeowners whose properties had been foreclosed on; and a letter from PPG concerning the city’s lack of progress on the Proactive Rental Inspections (PRI) law. In PPG’s experience, it’s unusual that our items are received and filed right off the bat. Normally, items from the public are sent to committee so that the public can speak on them. PPG is looking into whether there’s been a change in council procedure.
 
In the Regular meeting, Torn Space Theater was approved for funding through the American Rescue Plan (federal COVID funds) to improve its building on Fillmore.
 
Mayor Brown submitted a letter to the council responding to CM Wyatt’s Buffalo Affordable & Safe Housing resolutions. The council referred this matter to the Legislation Committee.
 
CMs approved a police contract with Lexipol, a company specializing in “developing legally sound defensible policies for Law Enforcement.” Lexipol provides training for police, as well as helping police departments avoid liability. However, one city implementing Lexipol’s policing recommendations has already been sued.
 
The council approved a contract with Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper for the use of pesticides in city parks and along the Buffalo River to uproot various invasive species, including Japanese knotweed, Queen Anne’s lace, and purple loosestrife.
 
The Bicycle and Pedestrian Board’s proposals about snow removal will be addressed in a series of resolutions at an upcoming meeting. It was unclear which council member would be sponsoring these resolutions, if any. That board’s proposals were received and filed, but CM Golombek said that he wanted to reassure them that the council did not intend to lose track of this topic.
 
CM Nowakowski proposed that the council subpoena a negligent landlord, Charles Dubucki, who has several dilapidated properties in the Fillmore District. The council is empowered to use subpoena power—the ability to force people to appear and testify before them—but they almost never use this. “This subpoena that the council has the power to do, we’re going to start actually elevating it . . . No one deserves to live in dangerous conditions, let alone blight,” he claimed. “We have tools at our disposal; we need to start using them.” Generally, members defer to one another in matters involving their own districts, so the council adopted CM Nowakowski’s resolution to subpoena Charles Dubucki.
 
Near the end of the meeting, CM Rivera brought the council’s attention back to an earlier item. This item was submitted by community groups and asked the council to pass a resolution supporting a ceasefire in Gaza. This item had been received and filed earlier in the meeting, but CM Rivera expressed that the supporters of the item should have a chance to speak to the council about it. “This is the People’s House. I think they should be given an audience, a chance to come before the common council,” he said. He ultimately asked the council to table the item so that there could be further discussion on it. The rest of the council agreed to table the item.