Life After Brown Must Go On
Okay, the deal is done. Mayor Byron Brown officially announced his retirement as Mayor after an unprecedented 20-year run, and accepted the position as President and CEO of Western Regional Off-Track Betting at a Two Hundred-and ninety-thousand-dollar annual salary.
Now what? As per the Buffalo City Charter, the Council President Chris Scanlon will be appointed Acting Mayor until the general election in 2025.
Last week, Mayor Brown convened a press conference to officially announce his departure and to introduce Interim Mayor Scanlon to the public. That was the first time I saw his face on camera, and I was not impressed.
It would be unfair to compare any other politician against Byron Brown – so I’m biased, but my immediate impression was the same as if Josh Allen were to retire and be replaced with the U.B. Bull’s third string quarterback.
How did this happen? How did a non-descript lad from South Buffalo get placed in this position which gives him the advantage to win the seat next year? This is a clear case of political “affirmative action”. Oh I’m sure he’s a nice guy, but I can’t see him running the show at City Hall.
Can anyone recite any significate projects or accomplishments in his 12-year tenure as a South Buffalo Councilman? This inside political chess move was specifically designed to put the power back in the hands of the South Buffalo Irish, which has not been the case since Jimmy Griffin in the 1980’s.
One of the greatest universally acknowledged accomplishments of the Brown administration was the diversity he brought to city government. In the early 1980s, I worked a job in City Hall under the old federal funded CETA program. Jimmy Griffin was Mayor and the only Black people working in City Hall were few and far between, and almost desk had bright green paper shamrock on them.
That can and will happen if South Buffalo controls the 2nd floor of City Hall again. We can’t be tricked into allowing this to happen. The residents of this city have come a long way in securing positions of authority in City government and we should not let it go without a fight.
If I had my druthers, I wish former Council President Rev. Darius Pridgen had stayed around to take the seat. He is a proven highly intelligent natural leader who would have made the perfect follow up to the Brown administration.
Second on my list would be Comptroller Barbara Miller Williams, the most highly qualified woman in local government with impeccable credentials: a former Councilwoman, County Legislator, retired Police Officer, Retired Military. She would be the perfect candidate to become the city’s first female Mayor;
Or retired Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield, a highly intelligent community advocate who has commanded one of the largest Fire Departments in the nation. And he is the son of Ruth Whitfield one of the victims of the Tops massacre.
Our community must not be tricked into going back to the days when our presence in this city was ignored in City Hall.