Categories for Outrages & Insights

Mar 9

2016

Poloncarz leads on lead while Brown dithers

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There’s been chatter about the need for someone to step up and champion the cause of reducing lead hazards in the city. I wouldn’t say Erie County Mark Poloncarz seized the leadership mantle Wednesday, but he became the first local official to advance a meaningful proposal for addressing the issue. So, considering the political landscape, he has become a giant among midgets. Poloncarz announced an initiative that has several important components: The county Health Department would hire six additional inspectors to complement the 12½ already on staff to conduct housing inspections for lead and other health violations. A nurse and[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Feb 28

2016

Outrages: Lack of diversity in the trades

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Charlotte Keith reported last week about the lack of diversity in local trade unions. Minorities account for 17 percent of the workforce in Erie County, but only 11 percent of membership of 18 building trade unions. What’s more, that number has barely budged over the past decade, despite a pledge by the unions to dramatically diversify their membership. A fair amount of the blame falls to the unions, but there’s plenty of blame to go around. Unions and community groups that recruit and train minority job candidates generally don’t get along. They accuse each other of a lack of communication.[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Feb 13

2016

Brown’s failure of leadership on lead

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Erie County Health Commissioner Gale Burstein said the other day that lead poisoning is the biggest health risk facing young children in the city. She’s been saying for some time that her department could use help in dealing with the problem, which data suggests might be getting worse in Buffalo’s inner-city. Mayor Byron Brown responded last week by saying she should not count on City Hall for any additional help. He effectively said “it’s not our job.” Yeah, I know, pretty tone deaf, especially in light of what’s going on in Flint, and the national awakening it has prompted when[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Feb 10

2016

Another Mayday! for SolarCity

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I wrote a post back in October about SolarCity’s mounting losses and falling stock price that carried the headline “SolarCity: Mayday! Mayday!” My post was prompted by a record loss in the third quarter that sent the company’s stock price down to $38 a share. SolarCity yesterday reported another huge loss for the fourth quarter that resulted in a year-end loss totaling $710 million. As in almost three-quarters of a billion dollars. The stock market responded by dumping SolarCity shares, dropping the price to $26.35 at the close of trading Tuesday. Things went from bad to worse overnight Tuesday and[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Feb 8

2016

WNY job growth continues to lag

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The Buffalo and Western New York economy is humming, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a bevy of local and state politicians. But the numbers tell a different story. Job growth in the Buffalo market grew by an annual average of 0.8 percent between 2010 and last year, half the national average of 1.6 percent. Local job growth last year of 1.1 percent was significantly less than the national average of 1.9 percent of the statewide average of 1.7 percent. Steve Brown and I discuss on this week’s edition of Outrages & Insights.

Posted 10 years ago

Jan 31

2016

Latest Urban League developments

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The transgressions of the Buffalo Urban League – submitting inflated bills to Erie County, failing to train employees, retaliating against whistleblowers – is an issue that Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and fellow Democrats on the County Legislature are wishing would go away. But it’s not. A critical audit issued in December by County Comptroller Stefan Mychajli was the topic of a hearing Thursday in which Republicans and Democrats clashed. Later in the day, Investigative Post reported the Acting District Attorney Michael Flaherty is reviewing the audit to determine if there are grounds to launch a criminal investigation. Jim Heaney[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Jan 10

2016

Considering Mark Poloncarz

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I’ve been on the airwaves the past week discussing Mark Poloncarz – his demeanor, his job performance, his supposed mandate. I appeared Sunday with Steve Brown on Outrages & Insights, my weekly video blog on WGRZ. I was interviewed last week at greater length by Susan Arbetter for a segment of The Capitol Pressroom that broadcasts on 20 public radio stations across upstate, including WBFO. I used to hold Poloncarz in relatively high regard, but have soured on him over the past year. Yes, he is smart (although thin skinned, and sometimes downright prickly). And he can be more forthcoming than your[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Dec 28

2015

Our top stories of 2015

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We’re closing the books on our fourth year of muckraking, and a pretty good year it’s been. I’ll save the details for my annual “State of Investigative Post” that we’ll publish in February to mark our fourth anniversary. For right now I want to note stories that had particular impact in 2015 and ask you, our readers, viewers and listeners, to cast your vote for our best story of the year. In deciding what stories to pursue, we consider their potential for impact. As such, we don’t simply “drop the bomb,” so to speak, as in “write a big story[...]

Posted 10 years ago
Investigative Post