Articles for Charlotte Keith

Mar 9

2016

US Labor Secretary: inclusive growth matters

U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez, a Buffalo native, received a standing ovation in his hometown Tuesday as he spoke about the importance of workforce development at Bennett High School. Perez stressed the importance of hiring local residents for taxpayer-funded construction projects. “We can make sure that the residents of Buffalo and Erie County participate in our prosperity. Inclusive growth is what we’re all about,” he said. Perez’s visit comes amid growing concern that communities of color aren’t being included in the opportunities created by the city’s construction boom. The local construction trades, whose members staff many major public works projects, have made[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Feb 24

2016

iPost diversity report on WBFO

Charlotte Keith of Investigative Post reports on a lack of diversity in the construction trade unions in Buffalo and Western New York. This story broadcast Wednesday on WBFO and is a companion to a story published Tuesday by Investigative Post. Produced by Jeffrey Mayne.

Posted 8 years ago

Feb 23

2016

Buffalo trade unions lagging in diversity

  Construction in Buffalo is booming. SolarCity. Children’s Hospital. The University at Buffalo Medical School. Taxpayer-funded projects like these are employing thousands of union construction workers. But the boom has resurrected concerns that the unions have made little progress over the past decade in diversifying their membership. While minorities make up 17 percent of Erie County’s workforce and more than half of the city’s population, they account for only 11 percent of unionized construction workers, according to the most recent figures available. What’s more, there’s been virtually no change in the racial makeup of the building trades over the past[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Feb 3

2016

Quick Hit: Urban League fights back

After an audit by the Erie County Comptroller’s office bore out whistleblowers’ claims of inflated billing and inadequate training, Urban League President Brenda McDuffie and her supporters say it’s a political witch hunt. But there’s little evidence for that, says Jim Heaney in a Quick Hit in The Public.

Posted 8 years ago

Jan 29

2016

Quick Hit: Diversity in construction

A new report from the Partnership for the Public Good shows racial disparities in hiring are worse in Erie County than nationally. The state does make efforts to address these by including diversity goals on publicly funded construction projects — but these fall short for a number of reasons. Charlotte Keith explains more in The Public.

Posted 8 years ago

Jan 29

2016

DA reviewing Urban League misdeeds

There were two noteworthy developments Thursday regarding findings by Investigative Post and the Erie County Comptroller about inappropriate actions taken by the Buffalo Urban League, including the submission of inflated bills and retaliation against whistleblowers. A highly placed county source told Investigative Post that the staff of Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael Flaherty  has been meeting with the comptroller’s office to review its audit findings. The source said no decision has been made as to whether to launch a criminal investigation. Meanwhile, the Erie County Legislature held a public hearing on the comptroller’s audit. Democratic legislators, joined by County[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Jan 18

2016

Quick Hit: Urban League update

Pressure is mounting on the Buffalo Urban League as Erie County legislators prepare to discuss an audit which bore out whistleblowers’ allegations of fraudulent billing. Read Charlotte Keith’s “Quick Hit” in The Public.

Posted 8 years ago

Dec 23

2015

Was dead mother failed by social services?

The story of the four-year-old boy who spent days alone with his mother’s dead body, surviving on milk and maple syrup, has prompted a public outpouring of sympathy and the donation of gifts that piled up at police headquarters. Former employees of the Buffalo Urban League say there’s another side to the story. The boy’s mother, Shaleena Hamilton, had been receiving preventive services under the $1 million contract recently audited by the county comptroller, according to six current and former Urban League caseworkers. The audit, released two weeks ago, found extensive problems in the agency’s handling of the contract, including overbilling, a[...]

Posted 8 years ago
Investigative Post

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