Home > Leadership > Mayor > Public Statements/ Speeches > Inaugural Address

Inaugural Address

Byron W. Brown
Mayor-Elect
City of Buffalo
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Buffalo Convention Center

THANK YOU, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

JUDGE GREEN, I AM DEEPLY GRATEFUL FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION TODAY;

MY PASTOR, MINISTER MICHAEL CHAPMAN, IMAM FAJRI ANSARI, AND REVEREND DARIUS PRIDGEN – WHOSE WORDS LIFT OUR SPIRITS AND GIVE US HOPE; AND BISHOP EDWARD GROSS – WHO WE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM; AND, LATER, REVEREND ALBERTO LANZOT, WHO WILL BLESS THE MAYOR'S OFFICE AT CITY HALL.

MEMBERS OF THE BUFFALO COMMON COUNCIL – WHOM I LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH AS TOGETHER WE BUILD A BETTER BUFFALO;

MEMBERS OF OUR STATE AND FEDERAL DELEGATIONS – MY PARTNERS IN EVERYTHING THIS ADMINISTRATION ASPIRES TO ACCOMPLISH ON BEHALF OF THE CITIZENS OF OUR CITY.

AND THANK YOU TO CRYSTAL PEOPLES AND JOE GOLOMBEK – YOU WERE WITH ME WHEN WE LAUNCHED MY CANDIDACY AND ALSO ON VICTORY NIGHT – IT IS ONLY FITTING THAT YOU ARE HERE AGAIN TODAY.

THE TALENTED YOUNG PERFORMERS WHO GRACE US WITH THEIR PRESENCE TODAY – IN THEIR MUSIC, MOVEMENT, AND VOICES WE FEEL GOD'S PRESENCE AND HEAR HIS VOICE.

WEREN'T THEY TERRIFIC?

I ALSO WANT TO RECOGNIZE MAYOR ANTHONY MASIELLO AND HIS LOVELY WIFE, KATE – WHO GAVE THIS CITY EVERYTHING THEY HAD, INCLUDING THEIR HEARTS, AND WHOM TODAY WE THANK AND WISH ALL THE BEST IN THE FUTURE THAT AWAITS YOU.

FINALLY – FELLOW CITIZENS -- I THANK YOU FOR YOUR OVERWHELMING SUPPORT IN GIVING ME THE PRIVILEGE TO SERVE OUR CITY.

IN LIFE, THE MOST NOBLE PUBLIC SERVICE IS A PRIVATE DEVOTION TO FAMILY. BECAUSE MY PARENTS UNDERSTOOD AND APPLIED THIS POWERFUL TRUTH, I STAND HERE TODAY – ARMED WITH THEIR VALUES, STRENGTHENED BY THEIR KNOWLEDGE, AND COMFORTED WITH THEIR LOVE.

MOM – THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE LOVE AND SUPPORT YOU HAVE PROVIDED ME THROUGHOUT MY LIFE.

AND I WISH MY FATHER WELL TODAY AS HE RECOVERS FROM EYE SURGERY; OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU, DAD.

MY DEAR MOTHER-IN-LAW, LIZ; YOU HAVE BEEN A RELIABLE SOURCE OF KINDNESS AND ENCOURAGEMENT.

AND MOM AND LIZ, AS YOU KNOW BETTER THAN ANYONE, I WOULD NOT BE HERE TODAY WITHOUT THE LOVE AND SUPPORT OF MY WIFE AND SON.

MICHELLE – BYRON – AS I SAID ON OUR VICTORY NIGHT: YOU ARE MY INSPIRATION, MY LOVE, AND THE GREATEST SOURCE OF STRENGTH I HAVE AS TODAY I SWEAR AN OATH TO LEAD THE GREATEST CITY IN AMERICA, BUFFALO NEW YORK.

REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. ONCE WROTE, "HUMAN PROGRESS NEVER ROLLS IN ON THE WHEELS OF INEVITABILITY. IT COMES THROUGH TIRELESS EFFORTS AND PERSISTENT WORK. WE MUST USE TIME CREATIVELY, AND FOREVER REALIZE THAT THE TIME IS ALWAYS RIPE TO DO RIGHT."

LET HISTORY RECORD THAT ON THIS DAY, AS WE SHED OLD WAYS, AND PEER INTO A NEW YEAR, THE TIME FOR "DOING RIGHT" IS HERE!

THERE IS MUCH PROMISE BEFORE US – BUT THERE IS EVEN MORE WORK IN ORDER TO DELIVER ON THAT PROMISE.

THROUGHOUT OUR CAMPAIGN WE SPOKE OF WORKING COLLECTIVELY – ALL SECTIONS AND NEIGHBORHOODS OF OUR CITY – TOWARD A NEW BUFFALO.

THAT ELUSIVE STANDARD – SEEMINGLY ALWAYS WITHIN OUR REACH BUT JUST BEYOND OUR GRASP – WILL BE THE CORNERSTONE OF THIS ADMINISTRATION.

WITH OUR TOWNS AND SUBURBS, OUR REGION, AND IN GOOD FAITH WITH OUR STATE AND FEDERAL PARTNERS, TODAY I SET A COLLABORATIVE COURSE TOWARD A COMMON GOAL:

A STRONG CITY; FILLED WITH CREATIVE, PROSPEROUS PEOPLE, GIVING STRENGTH TO AND RECEIVING SUPPORT FROM OUR SURROUNDING REGION.

AND AS CITIES THROUGHOUT AMERICA CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE – YEARNING FOR NEW MODELS AND NEW METHODS TO SUSTAIN THEMSELVES – I SAY THIS CAUSE IS RIGHT; OUR ABILITIES, GREAT; AND OUR INTERESTS, COMMON AND UNITED.

WE HAVE LONG REFERRED TO OURSELVES – IN EVERY COMMUNITY THROUGHOUT BUFFALO – AS THE CITY OF GOOD NEIGHBORS. WE SAY IT WITH PRIDE.

NOW, LET US SAY IT WITH PURPOSE.

WE ALL WANT GOOD JOBS; QUALITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS; TOUGH, SMART PUBLIC SAFETY; RELIABLE CITY SERVICES; CLEAN NEIGHBORHOODS; AND A RESPONSIVE, EFFICIENT CITY GOVERNMENT.

THE BROWN ADMINISTRATION WILL NOT ONLY RESPOND TO THESE OBLIGATIONS. WE WILL MEET THEM. AND TODAY I COMMIT OUR CITY AND THIS ADMINISTRATION TO AGGRESSIVE ADOPTION OF PROGRAMS AND PRACTICES THAT WILL DELIVER ON THAT PROMISE.

I HAVE ALREADY RESTRUCTURED CITY HALL TO HELP CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT THAT WILL ATTRACT INVESTMENT, GROW BUSINESS AND CREATE JOBS.

I AM EXCITED THAT BEST PRACTICES – SUCH AS CITISTAT, PERFORMANCE-BASED BUDGETING, AND PROGRESSIVE DISCIPLINE – WILL SHAPE MY ADMINISTRATION'S POLICIES.

COMBINING NEW IDEAS WITH AN OLD FASHIONED WORK ETHIC, WE WILL CREATE BUFFALO'S NEW FOUNDATION.

GROUNDED IN A TALENTED WORKFORCE, REINFORCED BY ADVANCES IN MEDICAL SCIENCES, SUSTAINED BY A REINVIGORATED WATERFRONT, AND CEMENTED BY THE IMAGINATION OF NEW LEADERS, THIS NEW FOUNDATION WILL SECURE BUFFALO'S FUTURE IN THE NEW ECONOMY THAT IS SWEEPING AMERICA AND THE WORLD.

BUT AS DR. KING STATED, WE WILL NEVER ATTAIN THESE GOALS WITHOUT "TIRELESS EFFORTS AND PERSISTENT WORK." THAT MUST BE AND WILL BE THE CORE PHILOSOPHY OF MY ADMINISTRATION.

THE VOTERS OF BUFFALO HAVE GIVEN ME NOT ONLY THEIR MANDATE; THEY HAVE GIVEN ME THEIR CONFIDENCE, THEIR HOPE, AND THEIR TRUST.

I WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!

AS WE LEAVE HERE TODAY, LET US RECALL THOSE WHO WENT BEFORE US. THOSE WHO FIRST BUILT THIS DIVERSE AMERICAN CITY THAT WE CALL HOME.

WE REMEMBER AS WELL OUR OBLIGATION TO THOSE WHO WILL FOLLOW – THEY RELY ON US TO SOMEDAY LEAVE IT TO THEM – BETTER, STRONGER AND MORE UNIFIED.

IN THAT SPIRIT, AND TOWARD THAT END, LET US BEGIN THIS NEW ADMINISTRATION, AND THE NEW YEAR, BY RESOLVING TO WORK TOGETHER TOWARD THAT BRIGHT FUTURE.

THANK YOU, AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU AND OUR GREAT CITY.