​​This week, the Common Council held five committee meetings. For this summary, we will focus on the Finance Committee, Education Committee, Legislation Committee, and Community Development Committee. The Finance Committee concerns all matters about the budget and issuance of bonds. The Education Committee focuses on issues regarding teachers, schools, school property, training, and the Board of Education. The Legislation Committee focuses on local laws, ordinances, and general legislation—except for civil service matters. The Community Development Committee focuses on matters pertaining to work or improvement using revenue from another government unit.

The primary agenda items discussed in this week's Finance Committee meeting included the status of an audit on Buffalo's street lighting system and a request to the parking commissioner to issue speeding ticket refunds from the school zone cameras. Two other planned agenda items—an update on the City of Buffalo's financial management of accounts and a resolution on In-Rem auctions for owner occupant buyers—were both tabled because no one from the administration was present to speak to the items.

Deputy Comptroller Delano Dowell, Sr., reported that an outside auditing firm has been reviewing National Grid's billing of the City of Buffalo since 2014 in response to the City disputing invoices. The negotiation process remains underway. Once resolved, the deputy comptroller will report back to the Common Council about the terms and costs of the settlement agreement. The goal is to have an update by the end of the year or in early 2022.

Multiple councilmembers raised the issue of the number of downed street lights across Buffalo and asked if the City pays for these lights. The last downed street light audit was in 2014, so the City is still paying for non-functioning lights unless new ones have been reported. A new audit will likely not take place until after completed negotiations. The audit and negotiation process did not specifically address fixing downed lights—it is just looking at reconciling billing.

Finally, a resident shared that he successfully overturned his school zone camera speeding tickets because they were issued illegally. He wants his experience to inform the Common Council about the case for refunding all school zone camera speeding tickets. Councilmember Wyatt confirmed that the lawsuit regarding refunds for these tickets remains pending and will likely not be resolved until after the upcoming election. He motioned to table, and the meeting adjourned.

The main agenda items discussed in this week's Education Committee meeting included:

• An update on the activities of Say Yes Buffalo Partnership;
• An update on the reopening of schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic—specifically around transportation and bus driver shortages; and
• An update on the new halal lunch pilot program in the Buffalo Public Schools

Say Yes Buffalo 

David Rust, CEO of Say Yes Buffalo, provided an update for the organization. Say Yes Buffalo is an educational equity-focused partnership, including the Buffalo Public Schools, the City of Buffalo, Erie County, and a wide range of other local community-based organizations. Rust highlighted how Say Yes has grown and evolved significantly in the almost decade of its existence, playing an essential role in responding to student and family needs during the COVID-19 pandemic—including through virtual learning support centers across the city.

Over 2,000 students have graduated from postsecondary programs with Say Yes Buffalo scholarships to date. Rust spoke about how this will have broader economic impacts across Buffalo in the years to come. He expects the numbers will fluctuate in the next few years due to the disruptions of COVID, but that the return on investment in the program remains strong. 

In response to a question from Councilmember Wyatt, Rust shared that Say Yes Buffalo is working on expanding the number of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) partnerships to support more students in attending these schools. These partnerships are negotiated directly with the higher education institutions.

Regarding eligibility for the Say Yes Buffalo Scholarship, Rust explained the general parameters, including city residency and other eligibility requirements. To learn more about the Say Yes Buffalo scholarship process, click here.

School Reopening Amid the COVID 19 Pandemic

Dr. William Kerestes, Chief of Intergovernmental Affairs, Planning, and Community Engagement for the Buffalo Public Schools (BPS), presented updates on the school reopening process. He spoke about transportation challenges and the school bus driver shortage.

BPS is working with the First Student bus company to increase incentives for recruiting new bus drivers, including increasing the signing bonus to $5,000. First Student has extended new offers to over 300 drivers since the end of the summer, but onboarding drivers can take up to 10 weeks, and there is a significant amount of attrition. This problem will remain a challenge for the rest of the school year and likely beyond. The Governor's Office provided 280 names of CDL drivers interested in becoming school bus drivers. BPS is currently short 100-125 drivers.

The Council asked Dr. Kerestes about bus driver wages. He shared that $19.95 per hour is the starting rate. However, the position is hourly, not full-time. He committed to getting more specific compensation information together and sharing it with the committee.

The district is currently working on brainstorming options for next year to mitigate the current transportation challenges. Dr. Kerestes anticipates it will continue to be a challenge next year. There are also six to eight vacancies for crossing guards at elementary schools and a need for crossing guards at downtown high school campuses.  

Halal Lunch Program in Buffalo Public Schools

Eight pilot schools fully launched with halal lunch menus, and parent surveys have been highly positive. Some supply chain issues undermine the parity of offerings with the traditional lunches, but they are working on the issue.

During the Legislation Committee, the property owner of 1450 Michigan Avenue revealed the location will become a neighborhood retail, bottle, and can shop. The owner spoke about how this will increase the community's recycling efforts. The item will go before the full Council. 

The 191 Allen Tavern property, the former location of Cantina Loco, will become a new restaurant called Casa Azul. The business will have an outdoor dining area and live entertainment. Scheid Architecture is in opposition to a special use permit due to the outdoor space for live entertainment. The company requested that the live entertainment have restrictions during certain hours as a condition of the permit. Scheid Architecture also asked that the establishment close at 2 a.m. Due to a deterioration of the community, Allentown and Elmwood Avenue have seen an increase in traffic, home depreciation, and other incidents due to the number of establishments serving alcohol. The owner was open to all the stipulations, addressed all the concerns, and clarified that the live music would be indoors and not on the patio. Casa Azul will use the patio space exclusively for serving food.

During the Community Development Committee meeting, Dr. Henry-Louis Taylor, Director of the Center for Urban Studies at the University of Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning, spoke to the Council about his 84-page report, The Harder We Run, which compares the status of Black Buffalonians in 1990 to their status today. According to Dr. Taylor, "Black Buffalo has not progressed in 31 years." 

He highlighted the following data about African Americans living in Buffalo:

• The poverty rate was 38% in 1990 and 35% in 2019;
• The unemployment rate was 18% in 1990 and 11% in 2019;
• The average household was $39,000 in 1990 and $42,000 in 2019; and
• The homeownership rate was 33% in 1990 and 32% in 2019

In 2021, substandard housing conditions, rent gouging, and demolitions without planning and development continue to shape socioeconomic and health conditions on Buffalo's east side. Dr. Taylor called for a comprehensive intervention strategy, insisting the city shift its focus from gentrification and demolitions to investing in neighborhood infrastructure and improving the current housing stock. For example, he pointed out that $11 million was recently invested in Martin Luther King Park, even though nearby neighborhood residents need safe, affordable housing.

Councilmember Wyatt thanked Dr. Taylor for offering his expertise and strategic advice. He mentioned that while the City spent $50 million on Buffalo's east side, residents complained about unpaved streets, unusable sidewalks, broken streetlights, and houses falling down. The councilmember noted that residents "don't see the development." Councilmember Nowakowski praised Dr. Taylor as "a treasure" in the Buffalo community. He described urban prairies in his district that are often unattended and "disgusting" housing units rented out at extraordinarily high prices. The councilmember blamed poor urban planning and reminded the Council of his district's desperate need for infill housing, saying, "We can develop in downtown, but we need to invest in neighborhoods." 

Councilmembers Wyatt, Rivera, Bollman, and Feroleto reaffirmed their enthusiastic support for building a Buffalo Bills stadium downtown. Wyatt thinks it would make the City of Buffalo a destination and hopes that a new convention center could somehow be encapsulated within the stadium to create year-round use. Councilmember Rivera praised Governor Kathy Hochul for supporting an open and transparent process. He argued that adding to the stadium's cost by building it in Buffalo is not misspending money because it generates spinoff businesses, population density with entertainment, and sales tax in Erie County. 

Councilmember Bollman said that building a stadium downtown is "a once-in-a-lifetime decision." Regarding the decision-making process, he said that if the stadium is not planned for downtown, county leaders should provide detailed information describing why. Councilmember Feroleto insisted they could overcome obstacles for a Bills stadium downtown. He reminded the Council that there was talk of demolishing Seneca One just a few years ago, which is now almost fully occupied and doing great.

The Council adopted a resolution to create a Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority (BMHA) oversight task force with the mission of improving current policies and practices.  Councilmember Wyatt said he will continue to advocate for residents of BMHA apartments whose needs are consistently overlooked or ignored.  

Need more than just a summary? Contact us at info@ppgbuffalo.org, or find full meeting information and schedules here: http://buffalony.iqm2.com/Citizens/Default.aspx