Tag: City Hall

Jan 16

2025

Scanlon’s police/fire dilemma

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Scanlon as a South District Council member before he became acting mayor in October. Editor’s note: This is the final segment of a three-part series on Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon. Previous stories included a political profile and his approach to dealing with the city’s fiscal problems. Today’s report focuses on on his tight relations with the police and fire departments, whose costs he needs to rein in if the city is to balance its books.  Buffalo’s police and fire departments account for half the city’s workforce and nearly three-quarters of payroll expenses. Reining in their costs — by reducing overtime,[...]

Posted 2 months ago

Jan 15

2025

Buffalo demolishes the ‘House from Hell’

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An excavator sits at the former site of 149 Arkansas St. following its demolition. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel The troubled house at 149 Arkansas St. that plagued an West Side neighborhood for years has finally been torn down. The property, a symbol of failures on the parts of police, city court and government officials, was razed by excavators Tuesday morning, following a demolition order that then Housing Court Judge Patrick Carney issued last August. This was the third demolition order that Carney issued for the vacant house, which has been a nuisance and safety concern to neighbors since November 2022,[...]

Posted 2 months ago

Jan 15

2025

Scanlon’s approach to balancing Buffalo’s books

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Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon at a recent rally in front of City Hall. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel Editor’s note: This is the second of three stories on Buffalo’s acting mayor, Chris Scanlon. Today we report on his approach to dealing with the city’s fiscal problems. Monday’s story was a political profile. Wednesday, we report on the dilemma Scanlon faces with the police and fire departments. Nothing looms larger over Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon’s administration than the city’s precarious finances. The current year’s budget is balanced on paper with more than $40 million in one-shot revenues, as well as millions more[...]

Posted 2 months ago

Jan 14

2025

Buffalo Mayor Chris Scanlon: A political profile

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Editor’s note: This is the first of three stories on Buffalo’s acting mayor, Chris Scanlon. Today’s political profile will be followed by a story Wednesday on his intentions dealing with the city’s fiscal woes and a piece Thursday on the dilemma he faces with the police and fire departments. Chris Scanlon’s public service career — from winning the Common Council’s South District seat in 2012 to his ascension to the mayor’s office in October — is a history of political dealmaking. Little wonder. Public service and political dealmaking have been a family specialty for 50 years. Buffalo’s acting mayor is[...]

Posted 2 months ago

Dec 23

2024

Scanlon proposes police use of Braymiller

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The now-shuttered Braymiller Market. Photo by J. Dale Shoemaker. Acting Mayor Christopher Scanlon wants the city to rent the former Braymiller Market building for use by the Buffalo Police Department, according to documents filed Monday with the Common Council. Scanlon is requesting lawmakers approve a one-year lease between the city and owner Stuart Green, who has defaulted on a loan from Evans Bank used to buy the property in 2021. City records indicate Green purchased the property for $7 million. He still owes approximately $5 million to the bank, according to Fillmore Common Council Member Mitch Nowakowski. The city’s proposed[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Dec 23

2024

Scanlon campaign violated ethics laws

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Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon. Chris Scanlon, Buffalo’s acting mayor, hasn’t yet formally declared his candidacy for a full four-year term, but already he’s stumbled over laws prohibiting incumbents from using their offices to promote their campaigns. Scanlon last Thursday held a fundraiser — checks payable to his campaign committee — at developer Doug Jemal’s Seneca One building in downtown Buffalo. Invitations to the fundraiser were mailed in envelopes that used the mayor’s second-floor office for a return address. That’s a violation of local, state and federal laws that prohibit public employees from using their offices for political purposes. Investigative Post[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Dec 19

2024

Braymiller Market has closed

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Braymiller Market moments before closing for good Wednesday evening. Photo by J. Dale Shoemaker. Braymiller Market, the only grocery store in downtown Buffalo, has officially closed its doors. On Wednesday evening, a person could be seen loading goods into a delivery van. On Thursday morning, the store was dark. An employee on Wednesday confirmed that was the market’s last day of operation. The closure means the business is now in default on a $561,000 city loan, a matter that’s sparked a clash in City Hall. At question is whether or not the city will demand its money back from store[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Dec 11

2024

Council: Not so fast on forgiving Braymiller loan

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  Braymiller Market. Photo by Garrett Looker The City of Buffalo could call in the $561,000 it loaned to Braymiller Market and reallocate the money for a different use, according to city officials and an Investigative Post review of records. Some lawmakers want to know why the acting mayor, facing a financial crisis that threatens to starve city departments and initiatives of funding, seems reluctant to do that. “I want to know why we wouldn’t require somebody who didn’t honor their commitment, who took money from the city, to at least pay it back,” Common Council Majority Leader Leah Halton-Pope[...]

Posted 3 months ago
Investigative Post