By Eileen Buckley
Buffalo, NY – One of the minor party candidates running for mayor of Buffalo has been waging a low-budget campaign effort. Independence Party candidate Charles Flynn has literally taken his message to the streets.
In the midst of morning rush hour traffic, Flynn stands by himself at the very busy corner of Main Street near the Kensington Expressway in Buffalo. He holds up a sign with red letters saying "Flynn for Mayor." While the major party candidates are spending campaign dollars on television ads, Flynn simply waves to the people.
"We I think it is about visibility," Flynn said. "I want them to know that if I am mayor, I'm going to be visible and accessible."
Flynn says as people drive by, some wave or flash the thumbs up sign. But he says occasionally a citizen will wave a different finger, indicating they don't support his effort. Still, Flynn remains positive.
"I think we can win this because we have kept a positive campaign. We have talked about the issues and we haven't made any attacks on anyone," Flynn said. "The other two (major party) candidates are attacking day and night."
But Flynn has made little impact in the polls against the major party candidates even though he won the Independence line against Byron Brown in the September Primary. Flynn also revealed a minor skeleton in his closet. He told reporters he had been convicted twice, once on an assault charge in 1982, and then on a tampering charge in 1994.
"I brought it out over a month ago," Flynn said. "I said I wanted to put the cards on the table face up and I wanted the voters to know."
The 47-year-old Flynn was born, raised and educated in Buffalo and says he's committed to the future growth of the city. Flynn is against a casino and Bass Pro. He is calling for the repeal of the garbage user fee and wants to enforce residency rules.
"We have to make the people that work for the city live Buffalo. I f they are going to get a paycheck, they have to spend the money in the neighborhoods," Flynn said. "The other thing we need to do is enforce the curfew. We have one for 11pm for children 16 and under. But it needs to be pushed up to 10pm. If we stop the corner lounging, we could cut back on the crime."
Flynn has served as a Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority commissioner the past six years, but works full-time in the private sector, running his own real estate firm in the city. And this isn't the first time Flynn has waged a mayoral race. Twenty years ago, he lost as a Conservative Party candidate.