**Due to changes in staff schedules this month, we’ve combined committee meeting summaries from two weeks–the weeks of April 7 and April 21. We will return to our weekly summary schedule next week.**

This month, the Civil Service Committee reviewed many job appointments. The majority are for the Department of Public Works—drivers, typists, laborers, a caulker and a meter reader. They also acknowledged the appointment of a new Director of Real Estate for the city (at a $100,000 salary), a “Knowledge Base Coordinator” for the Department of Citizen Services to help with 311 calls, and a public relations worker for the comptroller’s department.

The Finance Committee wanted to discuss Acting Mayor Scanlon’s plan to help balance the 2025-2026 budget. Scanlon proposed that the city create a “Parking and Mobility Authority,” which would then purchase the city’s parking ramps and manage them. For this plan to work, the city would have to both get permission to create an authority and complete the sale quickly. The city could make $40 million in fast cash as a result, but it wouldn’t help the city’s finances long-term; the city would lose the $4 million annually that the ramps would normally bring in. Members agreed to wait to hear from the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority (BFSA), the city’s watchdog control board, which will come on May 6 to offer the council its thoughts about the plan.

The committee also took up a resolution by Council Member Wyatt requesting that the comptroller perform an investigation of the city’s handling of American Rescue Plan funds. The comptroller has not responded to this request, so the committee tabled discussion for now.

In the Legislation Committee on April 8th, members unanimously recommended an increase to parking fees. This ordinance amendment was approved by the full council the following week.

On April 22nd, Reverend Earl Perrin came to speak to the committee in favor of landmark status for the DeLaine-Waring A.M.E. Church on Swan Street. As he pointed out, it was named after civil rights advocate Reverend Joseph A. DeLaine and Judge Julius Waring, who voted in 1951 in South Carolina to desegregate schools. DeLaine-Waringplayed a role in civil rights movement work in Buffalo and in the founding of the Buffalo B.U.I.L.D. organization. “It is the best of Buffalo,” Kerrin said. The committee enthusiastically recommended landmarking.

At the Community Development Committee meeting on April 8th, Department of Public Works Commissioner Nate Marton presented the city’s snow plan for next winter. Brittany Montgomery, the ADA Advocate and Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator, reported on the city’s progress towards disability accessibility, including putting handrails back onto City Hall’s entrance, the development of safe evacuation plans for disabled residents, skyrocketing medical cab prices, and advocacy for more affordable and accessible housing. Above all, she spoke about the need to have advocates for the disabled in the rooms where decisions are made. “A lot of people don’t know how to interact with people with a disability,” she said. “We can work together to make life easier for everyone across the board.”

On the 8th, and again on the 22nd of April, a representative from New York Foundation for Fair Contracting came to speak about the city employing contractors who underpay employees. According to the Foundation, some contractors claim that their workers are apprentices and therefore pay them a lower wage, even though the employees are not in an apprenticeship program. This is a frequent practice despite being a labor law violation, and these contracts total millions of dollars.

On the 22nd, Jason Hurley and Tom Muscarella from the Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH) came to speak about the county’s work on lead inspections and removal. They assured council members that they will work well with the city’s Proactive Rental Inspection program. Hurley explained that the ECDOH is embarking on a Lead Rental Registry program of their own; it will roll out in November, and they are hoping to inspect 1,000 homes every month.

Representatives from Liberation for One, Liberation for All (LOLA) came to speak about the police department’s plan to construct a new training facility (including a shooting range) on Paderewski Street, near the Central Terminal. LOLA and neighborhood residents are asking for a public hearing about just what this training facility—which will cost the city $5 million—will be. Only one of the representatives was allowed to speak; she said that this large investment, especially during a time of financial crisis, should have gone to social support for the neighborhood and community rather than more policing. Majority Leader Halton-Pope said that they could come back in two weeks and the committee would hear three speakers.