Last week, news broke that Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown might resign early to take a new job. But it's been 50 years since a mayor resigned here. So, a lot of people are wondering, what happens next?
This week on the Disabilities Beat, WBFO reporters break down this kind of complicated situation in an easier to understand way. We also discuss who is next-in-line to be mayor, what we know about this potential successor, and what we know about his relationship to the disability community.
PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY:
- A local gambling authority has offered current Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown a job. They want him to run the authority as their CEO.
- Byron Brown's term as mayor isn't supposed to end until the end of 2025. If he wants to work at the gambling authority, he has to resign as mayor.
- If he resigns, it is too close to the end of his term for a special election. So, the person who would take over temporarily for him as acting mayor, will become mayor until the end of 2025. There will be an election in 2025 for a new mayor, either way.
- The city's laws are called a charter. In the city charter, it says the next in line to be mayor, if the mayor resigns or cannot do his job anymore, is the president of the Common Council.
- The city is divided into nine districts. Each district elects someone from their area to represent their community in the Common Council. The president of the Common Council is decided by the members of the Common Council. The president will always be one of these nine members.
- In January, South District Council member Christopher Scanlon was elected president by the majority of council members. Only one council member did not vote for him.
- So, if Mayor Brown cannot be mayor for any reason, including if he chooses to leave, Christopher Scanlon becomes mayor.
- Holly Kirkpatrick, who writes about the Common Council for WBFO, says Christopher Scanlon has served on the Common Council since 2012. His district has a strong Irish and Irish-decent population. She describes his connections to the police and fire departments and their unions. She notes he has also shown support for Mayor Brown and voted in favor of things Mayor Brown proposed in the Common Council.
- Mason Ald, who is a freelance disability reporter for WBFO, says campaign donation records also show that Christopher Scanlon has donated to Mayor Brown's mayor campaigns in the past.
- Mason also researched what work Christopher Scanlon has done that may impact people with disabilities. During his time in the Common Council, Mason says Christopher Scanlon has spoken out about mental health, particularly for people who interact with police and the police themselves. He has proposed changes and made statements regarding mental health support for frontline workers who worked during the 2022 blizzard.
- Mason explains that Christopher Scanlon also did work in the Common Council focused on bringing Lyft and Uber to Buffalo, and then seeking more information on how they could make those services more accessible to people in wheelchairs.
- Finally, Mason shares that he also found in his research that Christopher Scanlon also proposed the city start its own ambulance service, since residents have expressed worry with the current service.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript provided by a contractor and may be updated over time to be more accurate.
Emyle Watkins: Hi, I'm Emyle Watkins, and this is the WBFO Disabilities Beat. Last week, a local gambling authority announced he would like to offer the position of CEO to current City of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown.
This means to take the job, he'd have to resign as mayor. But most Buffalonians probably can't remember what happens when a mayor resigns because the last time Buffalo's mayor resigned was in 1973.
So this week on the Disabilities Beat, we're breaking down What could happen if the mayor resigns in plain language and discussing what we know about Common Council President Christopher Scanlon, who will become mayor if Byron Brown resigns.
I'm joined on the segment by my colleagues, Holly Kirkpatrick, an investigative reporter who has covered the Common Council in depth, and Mason Ald, our freelance disability reporter, who did a deep dive into Scanlon's history so he can understand what he's done relating to the disability community.
Emyle Watkins: Holly, Mason, thanks for joining me.
Holly Kirkpatrick: Hi.
Mason Ald: Thank you, Emyle.
Emyle Watkins: First, let's get caught up on what's been happening. Western OTB has offered Mayor Byron Brown a job as their CEO. Mason, what is Western OTB?
Mason Ald: So OTB stands for off-track betting. When people watch horse racing and bet money on a certain horse, they will predict we'll win, that's off-track betting. OTB facilities like Western Regional OTB are what operate these races.
Emyle Watkins: And if Mayor Brown takes this job, he will have to resign first. Holly, who becomes mayor then, since he was supposed to be mayor until the end of 2025?
Holly Kirkpatrick: So the city charter, which is our city's local laws, says that responsibility falls to whoever is Common Council president. And in this case, that's Christopher Scanlon, who has been council president since January this year. He'll automatically become acting mayor if Brown leaves his position early.
Emyle Watkins: Scanlon has been on the Common Council since 2012. Holly, what does the Common Council do for people who aren't familiar?
Holly Kirkpatrick: The Common Council is made up of nine people who are elected to represent each of the nine districts in the city of Buffalo, and they're elected to four-year terms. And they serve to represent the residents in their district and their needs and their concerns. And the Common Council itself is actually a legislative branch of city government. So that means they have the power to make and pass local laws. Some other powers that they have include the ability to create new rules and resolutions. They can make changes to the city's budget each year. So they get a say in things like how much residents pay in taxes, city spending, and revenue, and the council can even decide to investigate city matters, and they have the power to call witnesses in those investigations if they wish.
Emyle Watkins: Now, I know Scanlon hasn't been president of the Common Council for long. How does someone become president of the Common Council and what is their responsibility, Holly?
Holly Kirkpatrick: The Common Council members vote on who should be president in what is called a reorganization meeting, and council presidents are elected to two year terms. So Scanlon won the majority of the vote this year. In fact, he got voted in 8-1. And the responsibilities of the council president, according to the city charter, is to "preside," surprise, over the Common Council meetings. So obviously, to lead those meetings, and they also appoint committees and appoint or remove secretaries.
Emyle Watkins: And I know that while Scanlon's been on the Common Council for about 14 years, some people may not be familiar with him. Holly, what do we know about him?
Holly Kirkpatrick: He's represented South District since 2012, and that's a district that has many residents of Irish heritage and descent. Scanlon aligns himself with the police and fire departments and takes an interest in union matters for both departments. And it should be noted that he receives campaign donations from both unions.
In the past, he's introduced resolutions that address concerns from those departments. So for example, in January 2023, in response to the December 2022 blizzard, Scanlon introduced a resolution to say that federal money should be used to buy more equipment for both the police and fire departments. And notably, Scanlon also usually votes in line with the mayor. So that means that if the mayor introduces something to the council that needs their approval, Scanlon usually votes to approve it. So the other thing is, in 2021, when Brown faced a race against India Walton in the mayoral election that year, Brown had to run a write-in campaign. That's not an easy feat or a dream scenario for any politician, and Scanlon successfully rallied the vote in South District for Brown. So Scanlon's seen as an ally to Mayor Brown.
Emyle Watkins: Mason, you've done some research into campaign donations to see who Scanlon may have donated to in past mayoral elections, which might give us an idea of who he was in support of. What'd you learn?
Mason Ald: So through the New York State Board of Elections, I looked at who Scanlon donated to for every mayoral election since he's been in office. In 2017, Scanlon donated $250 to Byron Brown's campaign, followed by another $300 donation to Brown during the 2021 election. The only election season Scanlon didn't donate to Brown was in 2013. But when Brown geared up for the next election cycle in 2014, Scanlon contributed $250.
Emyle Watkins: Also. Who has Scanlon supported through campaign donations that stood out to you for other races?
Mason Ald: Yeah. Well, on top of supporting Byron Brown's campaigns, he also donated nearly $270,000 to the Erie County Democratic Committee starting in 2012 when he was first in office. Scanlon also donated up to $100 toward Timothy Kennedy's Senate campaign in 2023. Kennedy is known for advocating a redistribution of funds to Western New York's infrastructure projects, so think improving public transportation or renovating buildings.
Emyle Watkins: You've been looking into Scanlon's history so the disability community can know a little bit more about him since he may become mayor without a campaign to introduce him to our community. You just mentioned his relationship with Tim Kennedy, who people may know for his focus on transportation issues. I believe your research also showed transportation is something Scanlon has focused on.
Mason Ald: Definitely. In 2016, Scanlon filed a resolution requesting that former Governor [Andrew] Cuomo speed up the process of initiating Uber and Lyft. He wanted the process to happen sooner because of the impact these ride-sharing apps have on accessibility and reliability. Following this, the dilemma of the wheelchair accessibility in ride-sharing surfaced. Scanlon and other council members took action by asking the Erie County Office for People with Disabilities to review the issue and provide the council with resolution recommendations.
Emyle Watkins: We also know over the past few years, Scanlon has focused on mental health, especially for people who interact with police and the police officers themselves. Can you tell me more about this?
Mason Ald: Yeah, well, it's true Scanlon has spoken openly about destigmatizing mental health. In 2020, Scanlon filed a resolution that calls for a collaborative approach between experts and agencies to prevent crises from escalating to a point of police involvement. In 2022, Scanlon then penned a letter to Buffalo's Fire and Police Departments demanding they acknowledge the PTSD their employees may be facing after the blizzard. He wanted the agencies to provide counselors and more time off for those frontline workers.
Emyle Watkins: What else stands out from the last year as far as resolutions or initiatives Scanlon has supported that could impact people with disabilities, chronic and mental health conditions, Mason?
Mason Ald: Yeah, so this past July, there were a lot of concerns about the reliability of Buffalo's Emergency Medical Services [EMS]. So Scanlon proposed to explore an establishment of an official City of Buffalo ambulance service as a solution. Now that the resolution is approved, Scanlon is requesting a feasibility study, which is just another way to say he wants to evaluate how successful this plan can be. Scanlon also was involved in a series of resolutions this year to address housing issues, including absentee property owners, safety codes, and housing court.
Emyle Watkins: Thank you both for taking the time to help break this down in an easy to understand way.
Holly Kirkpatrick: No worries.
Mason Ald: Thank you.
Emyle Watkins: You can listen to the Disabilities Beat segment on demand, view a transcript in plain language description for every episode on our website at wbfo.org. I'm Emyle Watkins. Thanks for listening.
