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Erie County legislator appointed interim Buffalo comptroller

Erie County

Buffalo has a new interim City Comptroller, after a Common Council appointment Tuesday. It is an appointment subject to the voters in June and November.

Barbara Miller-Williams is the city's third comptroller this year, unusual in a position that tends to be occupied for long periods of time.

Mark Schroeder left in January to become New York State Motor Vehicles Commissioner. Since then, Deputy City Comptroller Vanessa Glushefski has been acting comptroller.

Miller-Williams received six of the nine Council appointment votes. She faces a Democratic primary in the first year of state primaries being in June, then in the November election, although the general election is usually an afterthought in this overwhelmingly Democratic city.

“I am grateful to the Buffalo Common Council for their support and trust in my ability to effectively lead the Office of Audit and Control," she said in a statement. “As Interim Comptroller, I will continue my decades-long commitment to the City of Buffalo and all of its residents. With the right smart-growth, long-term financial planning, Buffalo’s best days lie ahead and I look forward to using my skills and proven leadership to continue our City’s resurgence into the future.”

The new comptroller will be leaving her post in the Erie County Legislature to take the job. In the legislature, she has been its chair and more recently chair of the Finance and Management Committee. She is also a former Ellicott District councilmember.

A retired Buffalo Police officer, Miller-Williams is also a retired master sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserve. She is a graduate of Bryant and Stratton and has a master's degree from Buffalo State College.

Mike Desmond is one of Western New York’s most experienced reporters, having spent nearly a half-century covering the region for newspapers, television stations and public radio. He has been with WBFO and its predecessor, WNED-AM, since 1988. As a reporter for WBFO, he has covered literally thousands of stories involving education, science, business, the environment and many other issues. Mike has been a long-time theater reviewer for a variety of publications and was formerly a part-time reporter for The New York Times.
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