A video released by the group Resign Now Byron Brown is promoting a petition for city residents to call for the resignation of Buffalo’s four-term mayor.
Group organizer Tia Brown says the mayor has been around far too long, without much unifying change.
“Byron Brown has been in office for 15 years, and in that time he has not protected black and brown folks, or persued justice or accountability for victims of police brutality,” said T. Brown. “We need leadership, somebody who has a bigger and wider vision of social inequity and racial inequity.”
In terms of the much hailed “Buffalo renaissance,” she feels that minority communities have been neglected in plans for the future of Buffalo.
“I think a lot of people see him as a Democrat, but he’s clearly just a status quo politician,” T. Brown said. “Everyone already knows that doesn’t work, and we definitely have seen which level has risen in recent years, and whose been left out socio-economically.”
Activist and Elmwood Village resident Flora Cardoni said she was happy to sign the petition, noting that while Mayor Brown is starting to open a dialogue for change, he’s had four terms to do it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgHCrJnZP7k
“As a young person who grew up in the city of Buffalo, I am frustrated by our city’s leadership,” said Cardoni. “Real leadership in Buffalo would look like actually leading, not waiting 15 years and for a moment of civil unrest to -- finally -- put in some mediocre reforms in place that should’ve been in place a decade ago.”
The group wants a new leader with a more inclusive vision for Buffalo, one that supports defunding the police department. WBFO reached out to the mayor’s office for comment, but have yet to hear back.
