Buffalo has a new deputy mayor coming on board to handle education and health care issues.
Mayor Byron Brown has named Erie County Senior Services Commissioner Ellen Grant to fill a post vacant since Donna Brown left for a post at ECMC in 2010.
In the new post, the mayor says Grant will be working closely with the school board and Superintendent Pamela Brown and working on city programs aimed at student achievement.
She will also work with economic development aspects of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, with its expected growth in job opportunities.
Grant says the city is doing better and she wants to help.
"Buffalo really is in a renaissance of growth economically, socially, culturally, educationally, and in the health care area. I look forward to just playing a role in that continuing development," Grant said Thursday.
Grant, a Buffalo native, has held an array of posts in the public and private sector and holds a doctorate in communications and organizational behavior and is a licensed private therapist.
Mayor Brown says Grant is an ideal appointment.
"She is a natural choice for this position. Her strong educational background and proven governmental track record in management and innovation leadership in both the education and health care fields were major factors in her selection," Brown said.
