Tag: Byron Brown

Dec 10

2012

Antoine Thompson? Really?

Published by

Antoine Thompson couldn’t find a job when voters fired him from his state Senate job two years ago. So, of course, Mayor Byron Brown has now hired Thompson to help the county’s 37,900 unemployed find jobs. Yeah, right. This is about as blatant – and shameless – as patronage hiring gets. First consider that Thompson and Brown have been joined at the hip, politically speaking, for most of their careers, dating back to their days together in Grassroots, the political club that helped spawn both of their careers. Thompson worked as a legislative aide to Brown when he served on[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Dec 5

2012

Good plan off to bad start

Published by

There’s a lot to like about the blueprint for spending $1 billion in state aid to revitalize the Western New York economy that was released Tuesday. I’d feel better about the plan’s prospects, however, if Gov. Andrew Cuomo hadn’t used its release to announce a heavily subsidized deal to bring 250 jobs here that smacks of the business-as-usual, smokestack-chasing approach that has failed us in the past. Let me get my skepticism out of the way up front. The state has agreed to spend $50 million on a biomedical facility and equipment to accommodate an expansion of Albany Molecular Research to[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Aug 8

2012

White hue of Brown’s cabinet extends to politics, policy

Published by

Byron Brown’s track record of hiring African Americans administrators – he doesn’t, for the most part – is surprising until you put it in a larger context. An analysis by Sue Schulman of The Buffalo News two weeks ago showed blacks account for only one of 12 commissioners, all of whom operate under the heavy hand of Deputy Mayor Steve Casey, who, is, well, let’s just say it’s doubtful he’s got Dr. Dre or Lil Wayne loaded in his CD player. Yes, the Brown administration is hiring more women and people of color for lower-level positions, and that should not[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Jul 18

2012

City Hall forgoes millions in housing fines

Published by

You can’t get away without paying your property taxes or garbage fee or even a parking ticket without City Hall coming after you. Letting your property go to seed is another matter. Judges in City Housing Court have imposed more than $22 million in fines since 2006 against some 1,470 property owners who ignored orders to repair building and health code violations. A vast majority have ignored the fines and gotten away with it, an Investigative Post inquiry has found. Less than $800,000 in fines have been paid during that period – less than a nickel on the dollar. It’s[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Jul 4

2012

Feds find aiding city is risky business

Published by

Federal housing officials are tightening the screws on City Hall over its chronic mismanagement of anti-poverty funds. A series of critical reports and audits have documented problems dating back to the Griffin-era, but meaningful sanctions to this point have been few and far between. But the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is now moving on three fronts to force compliance from City Hall in how it spends about $18 million a year – three-quarters of it block grant aid that is the primary pool of money used to combat poverty in one of the nation’s poorest cities. HUD,[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Jun 24

2012

Complete Lenihan interview

Published by

Erie County Democratic Party chairman discusses his plans, upcoming elections and how long it’s been since he and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have spoken.

Posted 13 years ago

May 7

2012

Byron Brown’s bridge over troubled water

Published by

Momentum is building to do something with the Outer Harbor and just days after a group of  community activists called for developing its 120 acres into a park Mayor Byron Brown make a pitch for City Hall to play a role, perhaps a big one. The Outer Harbor is state land, controlled by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority. The NFTA wants to get out of the real estate business, which has begged the question, who would assume responsibility for developing the property? Some think the task should fall to the Erie Harbor Canal Development Corp., a subsidiary of Empire State[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Mar 12

2012

Government’s spin cycle

Published by

I’m not sure when the high water mark was regarding the public’s right to know about what’s being done in its name and with its tax dollars, but surely that time has passed. A lot gets written this time every year as the press “celebrates” Sunshine Week. The focus is often on government’s failure to live up to the spirit, if not the letter of the Freedom of Information Law. But the problem goes well beyond efforts to stonewall the press and public under the FOI Law. I’ve been a reporter for more than 30 years and over that time[...]

Posted 13 years ago
Investigative Post