This week’s meetings were brief, in part because council members were attending services for acting mayor Chris Scanlon’s brother, who died suddenly last week. The most significant matters had to do with claims against the city, which totaled about $10 million. Claims come from lawsuits against the city that result in a settlement agreement. These settlements will usually include some kind of monetary compensation for the plaintiff—the claims.

There are many reasons people make claims, ranging from small matters of contract revision to big questions of, say, police brutality. These lawsuits are negotiated by the Law department, which may decide to fight back—either with their own lawyers or their often expensive outside legal network—or may settle to try to avoid further litigation.

The common council has a Claims Committee to hear about these matters, and during the Regular Meeting, that’s where the council sent these items for further discussion. Most of their deliberations are conducted in executive session, however, because they are about ongoing legal matters. This means that corporation counsel (i.e. the city’s own lawyers) and council members get to talk privately. The members almost always come out of executive session in agreement and don’t have much public discussion, whether they are dealing with a court decision or a lawyer-negotiated deal.

One of the most significant settlements is $4.35 million each to two men for being targeted by unfair policing and wrongful prosecutions. These are members of the “Buffalo 5,” three of whom were 16-year-old Black teens who were convicted of murder and sent to prison for decades. Three years ago, the two men who remained alive—John Walker and Darryl Boyd—had their convictions vacated. Walker and Boyd are now suing the city, alleging that the Buffalo Police withheld evidence, used intimidation, and lied, which led to the teenagers’ wrongful convictions.

Other settlements include a half a million dollars to a resident injured by reckless police driving, two claims stemming from police brutality, and two settlements to people injured due to the city’s poor maintenance of roads and infrastructure.

The council also received the acting mayor’s proposals for capital projects for the coming years.