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Joseph Golombek Jr.

North District

For More Information:
City Hall Address: 1502 City Hall, Buffalo, New York 14202
Phone: (716)851-5116
Fax: (716)851-5648
Email: jgolombek@ch.ci.buffalo.ny.us

Personal Information:
Graduate of All Saints Grammar School
Graduate of Riverside High School
Graduate of the State University College at Buffalo; Bachelor of Arts Degree in History; Minor in Polish, Russian and East European StudiesGraduate of the State University College at Buffalo; Master of Science Degree in Social Studies Education;
Graduate of Marquette University, Milwaukee; Master of Arts Degree in European History Renaissance to Napoleon and minor in Latin America

City Hall History:

Joe joined the Buffalo Common Council in January 2000. His philosophy can be summed up in his announcement to run for a Common Council seat in 1999. "I believe that political pettiness has led this region astray. I will concentrate on the issues important to our families, our places of worship and our community."

Joe also knows that the Buffalo region can be salvaged because we have everything except the political will to succeed.

Common Council; Committees Currently Serving:
Chair of the Reapportionment Committee
Member of the Community Development Committee
Member of the Legislation Committee
Member of the Education Committee

North District News:

"Politicians always talk a good game. Judge me by what I do, not what I say," said Joe Golombek, Jr at his annual Polish Fest.

  • Worked with Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society to reduce the costs of the Pan-Am festivities.
  • Sponsored the delivery of decorative lights to over 600 homes located in the footprint of the original Pan-Am Festival to commemorate its centennial.
  • Worked with various agencies and groups to bring in hundreds of volunteers from outside the community to participate in various community clean-up programs.
  • Sponsored Rebuild Buffalo (formerly Christmas in April) to rehabilitate several dozen owner occupied homes in 2001 and 2002.
  • Culminated the efforts of previous North District Councilmembers and Buffalo residents to preserve Squaw Island as parkland.
  • Successfully organized a community-based effort, which forced the Buffalo Municipal Housing Agency to drop its plans to purchase the Hertel Homes.
  • Continuously sponsor a monthly 55 Alive driving class to qualify senior citizens for auto insurance decreases.
  • Co-Sponsored the North District Youth Program Fundraiser that has raised over $12,000 of private dollars to ensure that the increased summer youth programs can survive.
  • Expanded the West Side Initiative into the Black Rock/Riverside area. This program assists prospective and current homeowners to purchase or repair their owner occupied homes.
  • In the Spring of 2000 contacted the County and State and began the process to include Vulcan Street in the work being done for the General Motors Expansion.
  • Established the Golombek Clean Team which cleans and mows vacant lots that the City of Buffalo is unable to attend.
  • Implemented a creative solution to the parking problem Crowley Street residents have suffered from.
  • Sponsored a Senior Swim program at PFC Grabiarz swimming pool run by the Northwest Buffalo Community Center.
  • Worked with residential and business leaders along the Elmwood Strip to improve the quality of life for residents in the area.
  • Supporter of Forever Elmwood (Farmers Market, Philharmonic, etc.)
  • Secured funding to facilitate the demolition of derelict property, especially: 1839 Niagara Street and 390 Ontario Street.
  • Currently working with the Good Neighbor Planning Alliance to develop a long-term plan for the North District.
  • Financed the start-up cost for the Boys and Girls Club program at Assumption Church that currently serves more than 350 youth.
  • Finance the Riverside Park Summer Program that serves hundreds of youth.
  • Finance the Summer Program at Nazareth Lutheran run by the Northwest Buffalo Community Center.
  • Worked to ensure that the Lighted Schoolhouse programs continue at McKinley High School and Riverside Institute of Technology.
  • Co-Sponsored the "Cinema Sotto Le Stelle", a weekly open air Italian Film Festival on Elmwood Avenue.
  • Secured funding to remove more than 50 dead trees with more on the way.
  • Secured funding for the Northwest Buffalo Community Center.
  • Secured funding for street, sidewalk and curb replacements.
  • Support downsizing the Buffalo Common Council.
  • Leading the initiative to bring CitiStat, a revolutionary program to save tax dollars by holding the City accountable on a bi-weekly basis rather than a yearly basis, to the City of Buffalo.
  • Working with local banks to set up a pilot program in the North District where the City of Buffalo would guarantee loans for homebuyers.

Regionalism:

"The only way that the city and county can survive is through regional cooperation. Not regionalism by press release, but regionalism by reality. That is why I have co-sponsored a resolution looking for the consolidation of Buffalo and Lackawanna. We need to start somewhere. Let it be here and now." Joe Golombek on the future of Buffalo and Lackawanna.