Articles for Geoff Kelly

Mar 6

2025

Two judges demoted, another retires

Two local judges were relieved of their administrative duties last week, suddenly and without replacements lined up in advance, prompting much gossip in the legal community. Coincidentally, a third judge resigned — opening a vacancy to be filled temporarily by appointment and then long-term in November’s general election. Chief Administrative Judge Kevin Carter last Tuesday was removed from his role overseeing court operations in the Eighth Judicial District, which comprises the eight counties of Western New York. At the same time, Erie County Judge Susan Eagan was removed from her post as supervising criminal judge. Eagan will remain on the[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Feb 26

2025

Scanlon campaign again violates ethics laws

Buffalo Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon. For the second time since he took office in October, Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon’s campaign violated local, state and federal codes prohibiting the use of public resources to advance political campaigns. From early December until this morning, two of three social media links at the bottom of the City of Buffalo’s governmental website connected to Scanlon campaign accounts. A spokesperson for the mayor said the links had been “fixed” after Investigative Post sought comment on the matter. But for nearly three months, the Instagram and Twitter links at the bottom of the city’s homepage connected[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Feb 25

2025

Something else City Hall fails to do

The light pole at Niagara and Garfield streets that fell in a windstorm in February 2019, injuring Donald Anderson. Donald Anderson in February 2019 was walking through a windstorm to his job at a Riverside tavern when a city streetlight — “badly corroded” and past its “usable life,” according to expert testimony — fell and hit him on his head. “Next thing I remember I woke up and I was covered in blood, people were all around me and I didn’t know what was going on,” Anderson testified in a deposition for a lawsuit he filed the following year. Buffalo’s[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Feb 21

2025

Good news, bad news for Buffalo finances

One-shot revenues and belt-tightening efforts have erased the deficit Buffalo’s government faced in the fall, but expensive legal settlements and overtime costs threaten to derail that progress. The city’s finance commissioner in December reported the city was running an $18 million deficit just three months into the financial year, which began July 1. That’s because Byron Brown’s administration had all but emptied the city’s reserves to plug unanticipated shortfalls in the previous year’s spending plan. Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon and the Common Council had planned to use those reserves to balance the current budget. To address the resulting deficit, Scanlon[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Feb 18

2025

In legal hot water again

Erie County is suing a member of a now largely inactive local right-wing militant organization for “deceptive and illegal business practices.” The lawsuit, filed last week by the Erie County Attorney, accuses Wayne Michalak and his company, WNY Backyard Enclosures, of bilking property owners out of “thousands of dollars in advance payment from consumers for home improvement services which he did not provide and/or complete.” The county attorney wants the courts to ban Michalak and his company “permanently” from the home improvement business or, as an alternative, require him to post a $100,000 performance bond before entering into any future[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Feb 13

2025

“Detective Hy was repeatedly discourteous and unprofessional”

The state attorney general over the past four years has investigated 10 Buffalo police officers repeatedly accused of misconduct. The investigations found “no pattern” of misconduct by six of those officers, and in two other cases the inquiries were dropped because the officers left the force. Twice, however, the attorney general’s investigators threw penalty flags. The latest cop to be scrutinized: Detective Richard Hy, who has been a notorious figure for much of his 13-year career. “Detective Hy was repeatedly discourteous and unprofessional during encounters with civilians and escalated the encounters, including by using physical force,” Tyler Nims, head of[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Jan 29

2025

Does the GOP have a place in race for Buffalo mayor?

Editor’s note: Scanlon on Friday clarified his position with Investigative Post, saying neither he nor his campaign staff have been in contact with Republican or Conservative party officials and stating that he would not accept their nomination for mayor. See related story. The race for Buffalo mayor this week was marked by a testy exchange between the frontrunners over Democratic Party values, a new candidate and rumors of another yet to come, and the resurfacing of a Byron Brown political operative. The clash between frontrunners happened at last weekend’s mayoral candidates forum hosted by the Erie County Democratic Committee. After[...]

Posted 4 months ago

Jan 28

2025

Update on Buffalo school board elections

Six Buffalo school board seats are on the ballot this November, presenting the possibility of new blood on a body where toxic relationships between members frequently have devolved into shouting matches and interfered with deliberations and decision-making. Last year’s elections for the board’s three at-large seats resulted in significant turnover. One incumbent chose not to run for reelection. Another was defeated. Two new at-large members were elected and seated earlier this month. Come next January, they will be joined by at least two more new faces, and possibly more. All six district seats are on the ballot this year. So[...]

Posted 4 months ago