The Church business must be booming

Ellicott District Councilman Rev. Darius Pridgen announced yesterday he will forgo his $52,000 council salary to fund community grants within the district. This marks a drastic policy change from his predecessor (Brian Davis) who used community grants within the district to fund his salary.

Pridgen to donate city salary to community groups - City of Buffalo - The Buffalo News

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Common Council's Interviewing Process is a Joke

If Councilmember Dave Franczyk wasn't annointed Councilman for life in the Fillmore district, he would be selling Polish sausages at the Broadway Market. Seriously, is this blowhard ever going to get a real job?

What an insult to the residents of the Ellicott District that the Buffalo Common Councilmembers go through this charade. They are talking to the media and by extension the public, as if politics isn't the only thing determining who will get Brian Davis' seat. Dave Franczyk, whose been in office for 65 years, describes Allen as "smart and savvy." How would he know? He's neither. Joseph Golombek's opinion shouldn't mean a whole lot, either. He tried to make himself out to be the council's independent voice until he recently began pimping himself out to the mayor. Go back to Riverside chump. It's just funny listening to these guys talk as if there is an actual interviewing process going on. Longtime Buffalo voters know better. We'd respect them more if they just came out and said it. The anti-Brown faction wants someone who is anti-Brown. The-pro Brown group wants someone aligned with the mayor. There's only one way to settle it. Put all the candidates in a boxing ring and have a ten man battle royal. Last person left in the ring gets the job.

Actually, here's a better idea. Eliminate most of the current seats on the common council and make the remaining ones part time. Do you really think there would be any difference in our "representation."? I highly doubt it.
Allen receives Fontana’s backing for Ellicott District Council seat : Buffalo/Erie County : The Buffalo News

Davis Quits Council

Brian Davis resigned his seat on the Buffalo Common Council this afternoon. Davis admitted that he spent just under $2,000 of campaign contributions on personal items. He pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors. In recent days, the usually split council unanimously called for Davis' resignation.

I felt Davis should resign because he hasn't been showing up to meetings and lied about his college experience. Davis claimed to have graduated from a Trinity College but no Trinity College has any record of a Brian Davis graduating from their schools. This whole $2,000 thing seems kind of minor to me however. There have been other local examples of politicians betraying the public trust where nothing was done. Assembly dinosaur Sam Hoyt recently admitted having affairs with his young interns in a series of embarrassing emails. He also admitted spending campaign funds to pay for a babysitter and nothing was done about either of these things. Probably because he's the spoiled/entitled son of the late Bill Hoyt.

A few years ago State Senator Bill Stachowski admitted that he used his campaign funds to pay for Buffalo Bill's season tickets. He must have gotten away with it by being the privileged son of Stan Stachowski. I don't see how this is any different than Davis spending money on himself. Former County Legislator Mike Fitzpatrick pleaded guilty to more than one DWI yet his seat was never in jeopardy.

How about these people that retire with huge warchests like Joel Giambra, Tony Masiello, Tom Reynolds, and Jack Quinn? You don't think they are spending this money on themselves through bribes, err I mean campaign donations to other people? Give me a break. Yes. Davis is a crook. However, he appears to have plenty of company. He was just lousy at covering his tracks.
Davis resigns Common Council seat*

Your Tax Dollars at Work

Councilmember of the year Brian Davis is in the news again. County and state investigators were looking for him on Wednesday. The only problem was they couldn't find him. As it turns out, he was still in bed. He was scheduled to be at two committee meetings but they didn't agree with his personal schedule.

On Friday, he said the committee meetings, "were already over before I got there." That's a great line. It means the same as "I was late, so I blew them off" but doesn't sound quite as harsh. Spoken like a true politician. Davis is the same guy who wrote bad checks to half the businessmen in Buffalo, lied about having a college degree, and gave himself a discounted house from some government program. Don't worry. Davis will soon say he's the victim of racial discrimination. It's too predictable. Because showing up to mandatory meetings has so much to do with skin color. You know you're going to hear the phrase "witch hunt". Believe me, it's not racial. I'd like to see half the white councilmembers hit the streets as well.

It might be time to put ankle bracelets on all of these guys so we know how they spend their days. Some of them probably already have them from past experience. Why is this job even full time? They should make it part time, pay them $5,000/year instead of $50,000/year, and let them get real jobs like the rest of us. Don't kid yourself. There's nothing going on at City Hall that the department heads couldn't handle themselves. Buffalo is becoming a ghetto city. How long before we find money in freezers or one of these guys smoking crack in front of a hidden camera?
Davis misses questions, meetings*

How Does This Guy Keep His Seat?

It seems like every day there is a new story about Ellicott Councilman Brian Davis. He writes one bad check after another. He lies on his resume and claims he graduated from college when it is not true. We now find out he was "managing" the failed One Sunset restaurant. Doesn't a councilman have other things to do besides manage a restaurant? My favorite line during the whole One Sunset fiasco was when Mayor Brown's Deputy Mayor (also named Brown) said she was aware that the restaurant was having some "hiccups". That's has to be the understatement of the century.

I don't understand why there appears to be no outrage among Davis' constituency. This guy is no good. I'm certain there are very good people in his district that would love to take his place and actually serve the public. Someone powerful has to be protecting him or he would have been led to resign some time ago. The whole thing would be funny if it wasn't for the fact that Davis is in a position to make decisions that affect the whole city. Where are the leaders on the East side of Buffalo? Davis needs to step down.
Davis hasn’t made good on check, landlord says*