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Home > Leadership > Common Council > Common Council Members > Michael P. Kearns

Michael P. Kearns

Michael P. Kearns
South District Common Council Member
Current Term:
Jan 1, 2008 - Dec 31, 2011
and
President Pro-Tempore of the Common Council
Current Term:
Jan 1, 2008 - Dec 31, 2009

1401 City Hall
Phone: 716-851-5169 ♦ Fax: (716)851-4294
E-mail: mkearns@city-buffalo.com


Council Member Michael P. Kearns currently serves on the following:

Common Council Committees:

Civil Service - Member
Claims - Member
Finance - Chairman
Rules - Member
Waterfront - Chairman

Organizations:

Appraisal Review Board
Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency
Buffalo Municipal Water Finance Authority

Staff:

Martha A. Murphy
Legislative Assistant
martimurphy@city-buffalo.com

Russell Weaver
Legislative Aide
rweaver@city-buffalo.com

Erin Meegan
Intern
emeegan@city-buffalo.com


Accomplishments:

Successfully reopened the former Cazenovia Branch Library as a Community Resource Center.

Conducted inter-District surveys regarding the FEMA Flood Zone map and put together a report that resulted in the removal of 90% of South Buffalo from the FEMA Flood Plain (thereby saving residents from the burden of costly Flood Insurance premiums).

Surveyed former and current Hickory Woods residents and generated a report that proved to be the stimulus for the recent $7.2M settlement with the City of Buffalo.

Secured $100,000 in funding for the Cazenovia Resource Center ($50,000 from the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation and $50,000 from the City of Buffalo) in order to update the facility's equipment and materials, and to make the building handicap-accessible.  Has traveled to Milwaukee, Chicago, and Toronto in order to meet with various experts regarding waterfront development and revitalization.

Negotiated with Time Warner Cable in order to ensure televised coverage of Buffalo's St. Patrick's Day Parade,a tradition that was in danger of being broken.
 


Background:

A lifelong Buffalo resident, Michael P. Kearns is a graduate of Bishop Timon High School, Erie Community College and Canisius College.  Mr. Kearns dutifully served his neighborhood, as Legislative Assistant to former South District Common Council Member Dennis Manley, from 1998 to 2000.  He then went to work in the private sector, as a professional fundraising consultant with his cousin Jack Kearns, founder of Kearns & Associates, a full service firm whose principals counsel church parishes, healthcare providers, educational institutions and community groups.  He successfully served as Vice President of the firm, and personally raised $17.9 million dollars for non-profit organizations.

In 2005, while working fulltime for Kearns & Associates, Michael ran for the office of South District Common Council Member.  He won the Democratic Primary and General Election, in landslide victories, and was sworn into office on January 1, 2006.  Since joining the Buffalo Common Council, Kearns has tackled some of the toughest District issues.  In May 2006, through a strong partnership with AmeriCorps, Kearns reopened an 80 year-old neighborhood library, which had been closed by the County of Erie six months prior.  Since it?s reopening, independent of county funding, Cazenovia Community Resource Center has been home to a myriad of organizations and programs.  Likewise, in the spring of 2006, Kearns's office launched two critical neighborhood residential surveys, the first regarding mandatory flood insurance, which over 2,700 residents were required to pay.  The other addresses the situation in the Hickory Woods neighborhood, a twelve-year, City of Buffalo environmental foul-up.  Kearns has also made housing issues in the City of Buffalo a top priority.  He has filed a number of resolutions calling for reform in the way the city handles landlords and renters, vacant properties and foreclosures.  His office works closely with the City of Buffalo Housing Court and has appointed an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer to act as liaison.  Kearns has been steadfast in the effort to secure more police officers, and has fought hard for appropriate wages for policemen, firemen, teachers and other City of Buffalo employees.

Kearns has been regularly involved in neighborhood issues, frequently attending various block club meetings, and other public forums in South Buffalo.  He hosted the First Annual South District Senior Seminar and Luncheon, held at Southside Elementary School, and with a second planned for April 26 of this year.  Kearns also participated in Read Across America Day at several schools in the South District, reading to students and donating books to local classrooms.  Kearns recently traveled to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois, at the invitation of former Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist.  He toured the waterfronts in both cities and learned more about lakefront and economic development possibilities.  Kearns is a strong proponent of form-based codes, and benefited from seeing, firsthand, the progress that has been made in similar post-industrial communities.