The Buffalo Chronicle
City & Region
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Diversity of district makes Fillmore council race a toss up
The Fillmore district is a gerrymandered concoction that was drawn in the 2010/11 redistricting process. Then Council President David Franzcyk, a deeply unpopular figure who was first elected in 1988 and watched…
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Magierski’s plan to keep Cheektowaga neighborhoods strong
Cheektowaga Town Clerk Alice Magierski has a plan to address vacant homes, if she is elected Town Supervisor. Magierski is a longtime figure in town politics — friendly and familiar to Cheektowaga…
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Despite misstep, Mascia pledges to be “an advocate and fighter for the people”
Housing Commissioner Joe Mascia, the Fillmore district candidate for Common Council, intends to be “an advocate and fighter for the people.” Despite the coordinated, deliberate, and long planned smear campaign executed over the…
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Magierski hones message with release of campaign video
Town Supervisor candidate Alice Magierski, a friendly and popular figure in Cheektowaga politics, has released a campaign video online and distributed via social media. Magierski, the Town Clerk and Tax Receiver, faces…
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Control board rejects BMHA financial plan, renewing threat of federal receivership
The Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority’s 2016-2019 Financial Plan has been rejected by the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority. The Financial Plan had been architected by Hal Payne, the Buffalo State College administrator who…
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Mascia: “I’m profusely sorry and deeply embarrassed”
It was brought to my attention today that I was recorded without my knowledge, and on the recording said something that I am deeply embarrassed by and ashamed of. The statement was…
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Franczyk rejects the Democratic endorsement to become a Republican nominee
According to Democratic Party rules, accepting the Republican nomination for an elected office immediately and automatically disqualifies that candidate from receiving the party’s endorsement. As a nearly 30 year incumbent, David Franczyk received the…
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Jacobs breaks silence to play defense for Paladino’s school board faction
Chris Jacobs has avoided education policy issues since his resignation from the school board to become County Clerk. In that special election, he was dogged by criticisms of his long tenure on…
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Sharon Belton-Cottman could face Mike Woolford in Masten
School board member Sharon Belton Cottman is emerging as the leading Democrat contender to challenge Mike Woolford, the widely respected Buffalo businessman, for Common Council from Buffalo’s Masten District. Woolford is running on the Conservative…
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Lynne Dixon rallies the region against DEC’s plan for Bethlehem Steel site
County legislator Lynne Dixon (I-Hamburg) is rallying the community against the State Department of Environmental Conservation’s plan to only partially clean up the former Bethlehem Steel plant in Lackawanna. The Cuomo administration…
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Reviving the sounds of Buffalo could enhance local placemaking efforts
We don’t pay enough attention to the impact that sounds can have as a place making urban design tactic. Sound can have — like the smell of Cheerios baking or the subtle…
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International patent laws are unnecessarily stifling commerce
By Rich Purtell “Free Trade” agreements are loaded with language to protect intellectual property (IP). These protective efforts do very much have potential to turn into protectionism, which is the opposite of…
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Politician photobombs opponents, making for awkward moments
When you tell someone that David Franczyk has been on the Common Council since 1986, they expect a seasoned and well-groomed statesman — a skilled orator with charm, a conversationalist with personality. But…
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Deep unpopularity has made Franczyk “paranoid and delusional”
The longtime Fillmore district councilman who has grown deeply unpopular among his constituents is cracking under pressure, says a longtime city employee who works at city hall. David Franczyk is “visibly paranoid…
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Quinn stays cool despite criticism from Mills
By Tony Farina, The Niagara Falls Reporter Jack Quinn, the former congressman and Hamburg supervisor who has been president of Erie Community College since 2008, didn’t seem too rattled last week when fellow…
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Carney takes heat from preservation community over lax enforcement
For the last three years, preservationists have been pushing for tougher enforcement of building codes and a more aggressive pursuit of slumlords for violations. City Housing Court Judge Patrick Carney is taking…
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Teachers insist that NYSUT’s badly tarnished image demands a new public face
Now more than ever, teachers deserve a friendlier public face on a “pro-public education agenda” that has been badly disparaged by real estate developers and policy reformers. New York State’s teachers’ unions…
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Does operative Mike Deely have the temperament for political work, ask teachers
Teachers from across Western New York have been questioning the political leadership of Mike Deely — whose short temper and gruff demeanor make him unsuitable for such a sensitive and pivotal leadership…
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Will school integration become a catalyst for district restructuring?
Desegregation has become an increasingly pressing issue for the Buffalo Public Schools. The national civil rights expert Gary Orfeild offered the district a bleak assessment of decades long trends that has led…
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Does Brian Magierski understand Cheektowaga politics?
Town Clerk and former Councilwoman Alice Magierski is running for town supervisor, but after early missteps observers wonder if she is being well served by her campaign manager. Brian Magierski, her son,…
