Jul 16
2013
Mayoral hopefuls Bernie Tolbert and Sergio Rodriguez filed their first campaign finance disclosure reports this week. They show Tolbert, while outgunned by incumbent Byron Brown 6 to 1, nevertheless has more money to campaign on than the mayor’s opponent spent four years ago. Rodriguez, however, has struggled to raise money.
Jun 17
2013
Some critics of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg say he hasn’t done enough to boost his city’s recycling rate. Similar criticism has been aimed at Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, whose administration has seen some modest success with the green totes rolled out in December 2011 and a recycling coordinator hired last month after a four year vacancy. Neither city has been able to reach the national average rate for recycling of 34 percent. Buffalo’s curbside recycling rate for 2012 was 12.2 percent; New York City’s rate is about 15 percent. Bloomberg isn’t settling for below average. He started a pilot[...]
Jun 15
2013
Bernie Tolbert is challenging Byron Brown in the Sept. 10 Democratic primary for mayor. Tolbert, 65, is a Buffalo native with an extensive background in law enforcement. He worked as an agent and supervisor with the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1980 to 2001. His assignments included special agent in charge of FBI operations in Buffalo and Philadelphia and several stints at agency headquarters in Washington, D.C. He joined the National Basketball Association in 2002, first and vice president of security and later senior vice president. He retired in 2010. Earlier in his career, Tolbert worked as a teacher and[...]
May 14
2013
The crime – or at least the appearance of one – is out there in plain sight. The intended victim is prepared to testify. But the investigators are nowhere to be found; not even curious, they say. Prosecutors and Board of Election officials agree that state election law prohibits the offering of public employment in exchange for running, or not running, for office. “You’re not supposed to do that,” said Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita. But Sergio Rodriquez, Buffalo’s Republican candidate for mayor, said in a televised interview taped March 18 that unnamed GOP operatives dangled a job offer[...]
May 1
2013
By Jeremy Izzio and Dan Telvock The Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority, the city’s biggest landlord, is ignoring a City Charter requirement that mandates recycling at apartment buildings and other multi-family housing units. As a result, roughly 500 tons of recyclable materials end up in a landfill each year, costing the city both money and an opportunity to improve its anemic recycling rate. There also may be a related out-of-pocket expense to the authority. The authority appears to have engaged a public relations firm to coach officials on how to deal with reporters inquiring about the recycling program. Managers are unwilling[...]
Apr 25
2013
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver are among those who have gone on record in favor of tougher enforcement of election laws and other statutes aimed at promoting ethical conduct on the part of public officials. The catalyst to these calls has been two recent high-profile corruption cases that snared New York City politicians. Not that we needed two indictments to know something is rotten in the Empire State. Look no further than the “D” grade the state received on a risk for public corruption report card issued by the Center for Public Integrity. Nor do[...]
Apr 11
2013
Mary Ruth Kapsiak responds to questions from Dan Telvock of Investigative Post about the district’s failure to comply with state regulations regarding health and physical education.
Apr 1
2013
Robert Gioia is one of Western New York’s consummate insiders. At present, he holds two key positions, president of the John R. Oishei Foundation, Western New York’s largest philanthropic organization, and chairman of the Erie Harbor Canal Development Corp., responsible for developing Canalside and the Outer Harbor. Gioia’s career has straddled the public and private sector. His family operated the Gioia Macaroni Co. and he was a principal with the Food Group of Strategic Investments and Holdings Inc. from 1992 to 2007. On the government side, he chaired the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority during its construction of the new airport terminal in Cheektowaga[...]