By Staff Reporter
BUFFALO — The contract of Gillian Brown, executive director of the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority, expires Oct. 31. The seven-member board that would decide whether to renew it has two empty seats, and Mayor Sean Ryan, who fills them, has not said when he will.
The gap comes as the authority, landlord to thousands of Buffalo’s poorest residents, faces sharp questions from its own tenant commissioners about inspections, rule enforcement and safety at the rebuilt Commodore Perry Homes, in a neighborhood where a young woman was shot to death last week.
Two seats, no nominees yet
Under the authority’s structure, the mayor appoints five commissioners and BMHA residents and Section 8 voucher holders elect two, according to the BMHA’s board page. That page lists two mayoral seats as vacant: one with a term running from October 2026 to October 2031, and another running only through October 2027.
The seats belonged to David Rodriguez, who resigned with a few months left in his term, and Yvonne McCray, the former board president, who resigned several months ago with a term running through October 2027, Buffalo Toronto Public Media reported. BTPM said the Ryan administration had not responded to repeated requests about when the seats would be filled.
The vacancies reach into the board’s committee work. As of early Tuesday, the BMHA website still listed Ms. McCray as chair of the audit committee and as a member of the personnel committee and the finance, operations and development committee.
Mr. Brown told BTPM he understands the appointment process is underway. “My understanding is that they’re going through the process right now, and I’m hopeful that we’ll have two new commissioners added to the board in time for the November meeting,” he said. The board’s next regular meeting is Nov. 19, according to the Oct. 15 agenda. BTPM reported that Mr. Ryan is expected to send two nominees to the Common Council for approval.
A contract that isn’t on the agenda
The Oct. 15 annual meeting agenda included the election of officers, a two-year extension of the authority’s HUD-required plan designating units for elderly and disabled households, and Mr. Brown’s annual report. It did not include his contract.
Mr. Brown said he is not leaving. “I’ll be here October 31, and I’ll be here November 1, and the fact that my contract expires, it just means I’ll be month-to-month employment at that point. But I have no plans to immediately go anywhere,” he told BTPM. He said he expects the full board to decide on any extension.
At the meeting, the board elected Commissioner Rachelle Sat’chell-Robinson as chair without opposition. Vice Chair James Comerford kept his post on a 3-2 vote over tenant Commissioner Robin Edwards, who was nominated by fellow tenant Commissioner Dawn Trotter.
“I just think it would make the residents feel better to see one of the resident commissioners in one of those positions,” Ms. Trotter said, according to BTPM.
Inspections and safety
The tenant commissioners pressed management on whether units are actually being inspected and rules enforced. Ms. Trotter described problems at the Jasper Parrish Apartments, including dogs that are removed after a notice to cure and later brought back. “My question is, when do we start enforcing the rules that we got and taking the roadblocks off the way?” she said.
Ms. Edwards said her Langfield apartment had gone years without an inspection. Mr. Brown told BTPM afterward that staff checked during the meeting and found her unit had been inspected each of the past three years. “We do annual inspections. We didn’t take a year off, and it is certainly not okay under the lease to refuse to allow us in,” he said. The board asked management for data on how many units have been inspected.
Ms. Edwards also questioned the security plan at the new Perry Homes. Two days before the meeting, 25-year-old Dominique Mack was found shot in the 200 block of Alabama Street and died at the scene, police said. Mr. Brown said the authority works with Buffalo police, has cameras at Perry and is considering private security when funding allows. BMHA pays for three full-time community police officers and expects to add a fourth under a coming agreement with the city, he said.
The concerns are not new at City Hall. The Common Council’s Community Development Committee has carried items from Majority Leader Leah Halton-Pope on living conditions in BMHA-managed buildings and from Councilmember Zeneta Everhart on housing conditions, according to committee records.
What is at stake
Mr. Brown’s report described a large construction agenda. The first phase of the new Perry Homes is about 98% complete and well over half leased, with full occupancy expected by early 2028. At Marine Drive, a new 12-story tower has reached about five stories, with the first new buildings due in early 2028. The authority also won a $2.5 million federal grant to rehabilitate long-vacant units at Ferry-Grider.
Those projects will run for years, and the board that oversees them and its director is unsettled. Mr. Ryan’s two appointments will shape who chairs its committees, how Mr. Brown’s contract is handled, and whether residents see faster answers on safety and repairs.
The Buffalo Chronicle is asking the mayor’s office when it expects to send nominees to the Council, and the BMHA for the inspection data the board requested.
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