Primary candidates took the stage to participate in a mayoral forum moderated by The Buffalo News. The five candidates took the opportunity to further elucidate there positions on key issues in Buffalo.
Kensington Expressway
Garnell Whitfield remained strong in this topic, reiterating his position for full restoration of Humboldt Parkway without a tunnel underneath for traffic. Whitfield claims full restoration will bring much needed economic growth back to Buffalo's East Side as well as improve the overall health of East Buffalo.
“I think that filling in [Route] 33 is the most expedient way to repair not only the infrastructure on the East Side, but the lives of the people there," said the former fire commissioner. "No matter what the study says at the end if the tunnels there, those people will suffer the same consequences as generations of people have suffered since it's been put in.”
The other four candidates were hesitant to take either position of restoration with a tunnel or no tunnel, but did further express their desires for the state department of transportation to do a full environmental impact statement.
“I think the best thing that's happened in the entire debate, lawsuits, everything that happened is the requirement of full EIS, without the full environmental impact statement, studying all the information," said Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon. "It's very difficult to say which project is better."
“There should be a full environmental study," said Councilman Rasheed Wyatt. "I thought it should have been done in the very beginning. It is just looking when it comes to our community, that we take shortcuts instead of doing the right thing, and that's disappointing. But for me to intervene at this point in time, when there's people who, before I became a council member or anything, got involved I don't think it would be fair."
Sean Ryan suggested the city needs to take more accountability and be the lead on the project, instead of having the state lead it.
"The 33, the 198, the Skyway. They all met community opposition lawsuits and just stopped, but it’s because we allowed the state to run these projects," said Ryan. "They're state funded, but they don't have to be state led. The City of Buffalo should be what's called the lead agent guy. Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany are all going through reviews of their highways that cut through their cities. And each of those projects is being led by those cities.”
Anthony Tyson Thompson, who arrived late to the forum, was not in attendance to provide an answer to the question. During Tuesday's debate he mentioned doing a full environmental impact statement and listening to community feedback.
Buffalo Public Schools
Tyson Thompson had the most notable answer on this subject. He claimed he would ask for amendments to be made to the city charter so the mayor is allowed to appoint the district's superintendent and at-large Buffalo Board of Education members.
Scanlon and Wyatt preferred if the city had more say over the portion of the budget the school receives from city funds.
Ryan and Whitfield focused on helping the students outside of the classroom. Ryan championed a community model program that allowed kids to get mental health training and groceries.
Differing from Byron Brown
The candidates were hesitant to speak negatively of the former mayor. However Wyatt, a known adversary of Brown's, didn't hold any punches.
"For me, he didn't help those on the East Side, he didn't help with these segregated communities," he said. "And he and I differed a great deal. Nothing against the man, because he's a nice guy, but his policies didn't help this city, and we're here right now because of him."
Whitfield said Brown stayed in office too long. The former fire commissioner wants to implement term limits. He also mentioned he wouldn't plan on serving five terms like Brown.
Even Scanlon, who many view as a close Brown ally, said how the city partnerships under Brown suffered a great deal.
“But I would say that one thing the City of Buffalo has lacked is the partnerships that are required for us to be successful, and for one reason or another, lots of reasons for it, a lot of those partnerships just didn't exist," said Scanlon. "And I think you've seen that changing already."
Tyson Thompson praised the former mayor, specifically pointing to his leadership during the 5/14 attacks.
"I seen his leadership firsthand. He forever has my admiration for his leadership."
Ryan stayed away from commenting on Brown and instead brought up the need for fixing the city's neighborhoods.
Overall
Wyatt followed what many local experts praised as a strong performance in Tuesday's televised debate, with another strong outing at the forum. Wyatt stayed aggressive from the group, criticizing a variety of groups and people. Including get a few shots in at Scanlon and Tyson Thompson.
"When you think about downtown and we're looking at 3% bed tax, parking rate increase, as well as an event fee. We already have a issue with occupancy. How is that going make people come downtown?," said Wyatt. "So when this young man [Tyson Thompson] talks about bold leadership, he ain't talking about me. Because I have bold leadership. I have spoken regularly, not just when it was election time.”
Early voting is just over a week away, set to begin June 14 and end June 22. Primary day is June 24.
