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Mayor Brown's 2009 State of The City Address

Annual State of the City Address
Mayor Byron W. Brown
January 29, 2009

Thank you.

I am honored that so many people are here this afternoon for the 2009 State of the City address.

Please join me in thanking Arin Dandes for her beautiful singing of our National Anthem, Reverend Matthew Brown for his inspiring Invocation and Pastor Angel Gauthier for the blessing of our meal. I also want to acknowledge Pastor Brek Cockrell who will later conclude today’s State of the City with the Benediction.

And let’s also show our appreciation for the wonderful music provided today by the South Park Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Joseph Parisi.

I must also recognize my wife Michelle and our family members who are here today. Thank you for your love and support.

We gather here today during a time of extraordinary change in our country and a time of grave concern for the economic health of our state and nation.

The challenge before us is to do what we as Americans, New Yorkers and Buffalonians have always done during difficult times – we must come together and pursue our common interests, put aside petty differences and invoke the necessary changes that will benefit us now and for generations to come.

Despite the current crisis that has affected every sector of our society, the City of Buffalo is Safer, Stronger and Smarter.

Since taking office in January 2006, my Administration has followed three guiding principles that have contributed to the current state of our city: strengthening our city’s economy and overall fiscal health; improving our residents’ quality of life; and providing greater efficiency and accountability in the delivery of city services.

Over the past three years, we have reduced the city’s crime rate, cut property taxes, eliminated waste, built record budget surpluses, successfully negotiated several union contracts, ensured that all city employees receive a living wage and resolved the long-standing Hickory Woods controversy.

I am confident we’re moving in the right direction – despite the statewide and national challenges we all face – and I believe Buffalo is in a good position to withstand the current crisis and is ready for further investment and development.

Recently, my Administration, working in close collaboration with Erie County Executive Chris Collins, presented a blueprint for investment and job growth for our region.

We presented to President Obama’s Administration a comprehensive list of ready-to-go infrastructure projects for Buffalo and Erie County to be funded through the federal stimulus package.

The $1.9 billion worth of projects includes $622 million in the City of Buffalo that could produce over 14,000 jobs.

Erie County Executive Chris Collins is with us this afternoon and I want to express my appreciation to him for being supportive of the city and I look forward to future collaborations that will help our residents and businesses in Buffalo and throughout Erie County.

Like our work with Erie County on the federal stimulus effort, my Administration has worked closely with our local, state and federal partners in a variety of initiatives to improve the quality of life in Buffalo, especially on our success in reducing crime and strengthening public safety.

We’ve made great progress in fighting crime and reducing its impact on our residents through initiatives such as Operation Impact, the opening of the Erie Regional Crime Analysis Center in Buffalo Police Headquarters, partnering with Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office, the District Attorney’s office and the New York State Police.

Since taking office, my Administration’s Zero Tolerance anti-crime effort has accounted for the reduction of crime by 12% --- and a 50% decrease in homicides from 2006 through 2008. Yes, in 2 years, homicides have dropped in Buffalo by 50%!

We have installed 67 state-of-the-art surveillance cameras, with a total of 120 cameras to be operational by this summer.

And, honoring my pledge when I took office, we added 108 new police officers to the ranks of the Buffalo Police Department and implemented several effective anti-crime measures, including the Mobile Response Unit.
In three years we have removed 4,456 illegal guns from our streets with the help of two Gun Buybacks and excellent police work.

A key partner in our anti-crime efforts is our new District Attorney Frank Sedita who joins us today. Frank, my Administration looks forward to working with you on continuing our success in apprehending and prosecuting criminals.

In addition to our progress in lowering crime, the Buffalo Fire Department has dramatically lowered the number of arsons committed in our city, while at the same time increasing the number of arson arrests.

Since 2005, arson arrests have increased an astonishing 100%, while arson fires have declined 24%.

I applaud the men and women of the Buffalo Fire Department for their dedication to their profession and for providing our city with the finest fire protection services in the region.

President Obama has said it is times of crisis that ultimately bring out the best in all of us and open up the possibility of rebuilding our nation.

In fact, over the past three years we prepared ourselves for difficult times by cutting the property tax burden and managing our city finances very conservatively. The results speak for themselves:

In each year of my term as Mayor, the City of Buffalo has reported double-digit surpluses. We achieved a record-breaking fund balance now totaling $133 million, including the creation of a $30.2 million “rainy day” fund.

And, three straight upgrades by Wall Street bond rating agencies highlight our progress in lifting Buffalo out of its past fiscal difficulty.

I want to thank City Comptroller Andy SanFilippo and the Buffalo Common Council for working with my Administration in a fiscally responsible way and achieving these important outcomes.

There can be no question that the landscape of the city is changing for the better.

With an estimated $4.3 billion in investment through exciting projects like Uniland’s $78 million Avant development, the $380 million Canal Side redevelopment project or the opening of the $33 million Burchfield-Penney Art Center, positive change continues to occur in the city.

And more development and change will continue through projects like the new $137 million federal court house, returning two-way traffic to Main Street and the anticipated opening of the $3.4 million Kohl’s department store in North Buffalo.
Thanks to the vision, dedication and leadership of individuals like Carl Montante, Congressman Brian Higgins and Dr. Muriel Howard, these development projects and others will have a lasting and very positive impact on Buffalo.

Recently, however, we saw troubling unemployment figures from the state Labor Department. While our region withstood the initial stages of the recession, the impact of the declining national economy is taking root in our community.

This news reinforces more than ever the need for the federal stimulus package to provide critically important funding to the City of Buffalo.

And while that federal agenda is essential to cities like Buffalo, so too is the support of the State of New York.

Last week, I delivered testimony regarding the Governor’s proposed budget. In an effort to continue the path of fiscal recovery the City of Buffalo is currently on, I requested the state authorize new sources of city revenue, and eliminate Albany’s practice of taking substantial shares of locally generated dollars.

I mentioned the fact that Buffalo experienced increased economic development activity over the past three years, aided by the Empire Zone Program.

Changing the rules on the Empire Zone retroactively is bad for business and bad for Buffalo. Helping us to fight this change are the members of the Western New York State Legislative Delegation. Thank you for your support.

Today, we have two very special guests who are demonstrating daily that small businesses make Buffalo stronger: Blondine Harvin and
Mary Anne Marchione.

Gigi’s Restaurant is a landmark on Buffalo’s East Side, which recently underwent a $190,000 renovation as part of a city program. This popular “soul food” restaurant has been in business since 1960, and is owned by Blondine Harvin, who joins us here this afternoon.

Thank you Blondine for your continued hard work and commitment to making Gigi’s a great place for anyone who enjoys a great meal in a wonderful atmosphere.

Francesca’s Italian Cuisine restaurant, located on Seneca Street in South Buffalo, is another important example of the city supporting our commercial districts.

The city provided over $75,000 for capital improvements to Francesca’s. I want to acknowledge Mary Anne Mar-SHE-own for transforming a deteriorated building and making a very positive impact on Seneca Street. Thank you, Mary Anne.

Other important projects that are part of Jefferson Avenue’s revitalization are the Beverly A. Gray Business Incubator; the Jefferson Retail Plaza, Bethel Head Start Daycare Center, and Mandela’s Market. All totaled over $6.5 million of new investment on Jefferson Avenue.

I want to acknowledge the strong support my Administration has received on these efforts from State Senator Antoine Thompson, State Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples and Masten District Councilmember Demone Smith.

Also, the Seneca Street Business District is currently undergoing a $1.3 million infrastructure improvement that was made possible through contributions from my Administration and Congressman Brian Higgins. State Assemblyman Mark Schroeder and County Legislator Tim Kennedy have both been great leaders in this key South Buffalo commercial district and our shared efforts have extended to the South Park commercial district, investing $2.3 million in infrastructure improvements.

In addition to making our neighborhoods safer, we are making them stronger through these development efforts in our commercial districts.

Progress is being made in stabilizing our residential neighborhoods and mixing the demolition of dilapidated, vacant structures with the rehabilitation of housing units that can be saved or restored.

Unsalvageable, dangerous structures are being demolished through my aggressive ‘5 in 5’ Demolition Plan, an accelerated citywide attack on blight with the goal of demolishing 5,000 of these structures in five years.

We’re already well on our way to achieving this goal, with 1,692 properties that have already been demolished.

I have also pledged to work with nonprofits like PUSH Buffalo, Inc. to rehabilitate 500 vacant housing units within five years. As part of our plan, I have committed $400,000 to PUSH to rehabilitate three abandoned buildings on Buffalo’s West Side.

Aaron Bartley, Executive Director of PUSH Buffalo joins us this afternoon and I want to acknowledge Aaron and all the members of PUSH for working to make our city’s residential neighborhoods stronger and more vibrant.

In addition, my Administration and HSBC Bank are working with Black Rock Neighborhood Housing Services, Judge Henry Nowak and Councilmember Joe Golombek, to leverage a neighborhood revitalization initiative on Dearborne and East Streets in Black Rock, through a comprehensive effort to rehabilitate owner occupied homes.

Our attack on blight and vacant property will be further enhanced with the implementation of a Real Property Information System as recommended by the 2006 “Blueprint Buffalo” report. This system will allow us to more effectively target properties for rehabilitation, emergency demolition and increased neighborhood green space.

As we continue to strengthen our economy, business districts and neighborhoods, we must also modernize our policies to respond to citizen’s calls for good urban design.

To do this, we must reform our zoning code.

Our city zoning code was last updated in the 1950’s. What we have now is an outdated and frequently conflicting system patched together over several decades.

Shortly, a firm will be selected to update and reform our city zoning code. This will help expedite approvals for permit seekers and provide assurance to our neighborhoods that their character will be protected.

As important as reforming our zoning code and protecting our neighborhoods, my Administration is equally committed to making Buffalo a green city.

Our effort in creating a Buffalo “Green Belt” has already gained attention and attracted businesses. This year, exciting new companies like Riverwright are poised to transform hundreds of acres of our brownfields to attract business focused on renewable energy sources, sustainable development and emerging green technologies.

Riverwright’s principals Rick Smith and Greg Stevens are with us today.

New Green Belt projects include a $15 million recycling operation creating 40 jobs on Hopkins Street and a Canadian company that will produce the world’s first solar powered recreational boats on our waterfront. Please welcome the founders of Buffalo Solar Boat, Monte GIZ-BORN and Ray Hirani who are joining us here today from Ontario.

I also plan on making Buffalo a national center for electronic medical records and health informatics.

This effort forms a partnership between the New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences and Computer Task Group.

I am today announcing that Computer Task Group is investing $3.6 million in this project. It has already begun hiring and projects 550 new employees, with the average salary for these jobs ranging from $55,000 to $98,000.

I would like to thank the executives from CTG that are here today.

We must make sure Buffalo residents are poised to fill the jobs that will be created.

To do this, I am committing a half million dollars for a “Mayor’s Next-Generation Scientists” program, which will train and provide career pathways for 250 Buffalo high school and college students for employment opportunities emerging from this initiative.

I have also asked New York State to extend the Governor’s initiative for a “Say Yes to Education” pilot program to include Buffalo.

This program provides a free college education for disadvantaged public school students.

With the addition of these programs, we will now be able to train and educate our youth, expose them to various careers and then have a job waiting for them right here in Buffalo.

These two programs will be important components of my anti-poverty plan to be announced within the next three weeks.

I think it’s important to acknowledge UB President John Simpson whose visionary UB 2020 will create an estimated 15,000 jobs in Buffalo. President Simpson, thank you for your commitment to Buffalo and its future.

Since 2005, my Administration has increased the Youth Employment program by nearly 200%, growing youth summer employment to 3,200 jobs during 2008.

The program provides youth with basic workplace skills and assists them in obtaining summer employment, giving them opportunities to learn and grow.

Today, I am proud to introduce to you a young man who is a shining example of the success of the Summer Youth Employment Program.

Sterling South is a remarkable young man. He participated last summer in our Summer Youth Employment Program, working at Sheehan Memorial Hospital where he updated all policy and procedure manuals for the entire hospital.

Having achieved great academic success at the Maritime Charter School on Genesee Street, Sterling has earned the highest Navy Junior ROTC rank among the school’s 315 cadets. Next year Sterling will attend the University of Rochester on a full Navy ROTC scholarship.

To help prepare our young people, I created my Summer Reading Challenge in 2001 as a member of the New York State Senate. Over the past 7 years, there have been over 4,000 students who completed the program and read over 23,000 books. The Summer Reading Challenge has grown by almost 350%.
As important as our youth are to the future of Buffalo, our city’s faith-based organizations help strengthen our neighborhoods and promote investment and opportunity.

Since taking office, I have directed close to $1.1 million for community and neighborhood development projects led by faith-based organizations.

These projects include: St. John's Hospice, Bethel Head Start Day Care and we are working with True Bethel for construction of new low-income housing.

My Administration has also committed $900,000 to Delta Development's Holy Family Senior Housing project in South Buffalo and another $900,000 to the Community Action Organization's Dodge Street multi-family housing project.

The CAO plans to convert a number of long abandoned buildings on Dodge Street into affordable housing and a community services facility. All are designed to meet Green Building and NYS Energy Star standards.

Delta Development plans to convert the former Holy Family elementary school on Tifft Street in South Buffalo into a 36-unit housing complex for seniors.

In another important city neighborhood, we have taken the lead to assure the long-term viability of the Broadway Market. With the assistance of Delaware North and Travers Collins & Company, and the support of Council President David Franczyk, we are restructuring operations and developing an effective marketing plan for this important community asset.

We can further showcase other community assets by investing in the Buffalo Niagara Film Commission. I will partner with Erie County and the Convention and Visitors Bureau to take a more regional approach in recruiting companies to shoot and produce films in our city and region. The Commission’s Chairperson, Cindy Abbott Letro is here today. Together, the County Executive and I will invest $175,000 to support this work.

When I took office in 2006, I immediately changed the way city services were delivered and, more importantly, how they were managed and reviewed.

My Administration implemented CitiStat Buffalo, which continues to serve as our primary management tool to ensure accountability in all city departments.

And we have demonstrated results. For example, we reduced the number of city employee take home vehicles, saving taxpayer dollars, created an anti-graffiti unit and instituted a new 311 call center, providing one location to access city services.

In addition, I recently announced a GPS pilot project for snow removal vehicles. This new GPS system allows Public Works to better manage and track our snow removal operations, ensuring that they are deployed to the areas of the city where they’re needed most.

Along with greater efficiency and accountability, making city government transparent remains a priority. In conjunction with the Manhattan Institute of Government, we will soon post a list of all city employees, by name, title and salary on the Internet. This will be the first of its kind for any municipality in New York State outside of New York City.

As I conclude, I would like to thank every city employee for their hard work and service to Buffalo. And, I am also grateful to the residents and businesses that make Buffalo such a special place to live.

I have every confidence that we have made great progress in the City of Buffalo in 2008. Sadly, however, in the past year we lost two notable Buffalonians: former Mayor Jimmy Griffin and Tim Russert.

Mayor Griffin always wore his love for Buffalo on his sleeve. And Tim Russert embodied everything that is so special and unique to Buffalo.

Tim’s sister Kathy Russert is with us today. Last year, I was proud to travel to Washington, DC to pay respect to Tim and then later join Kathy to commemorate their childhood street in South Buffalo as Tim Russert Way.

As we leave here today, let us all move forward, together, with the same passion and dedication these two men always expressed in their love for Buffalo and commit ourselves to the work that is left undone in taking our city to the place we all want it to be:

Safer, Stronger and Smarter.

And to those who try to impede our progress, we will not be turned back, we will not be stopped and we will not be discouraged in our mission to keep moving our great city forward.

God Bless you and God Bless the City of Buffalo!

Thank You!