AV’s City Hall correspondent Ellen Przepasniak sends this report on yesterday’s Common Council meeting:

Lawmakers are taking another step to revitalize Buffalo’s economy this week as the Office of Strategic Planning organizes a grant application through Restore NY, a state program that provides money for revitalization of commercial and residential properties. This grant money is one more part of a decades-long housing revitalization effort. Brian Reilly, commissioner for the Department of Economic Development, Permit and Inspection Services, admits this money isn’t enough to fix the city’s housing problems, but it’ll make a dent.

A discussion was held at Tuesday’s Common Council meeting as part of a public forum time required by the grant application, prompted by a resolution from Niagara Councilmember David Rivera. The city will be requesting $20 million, split evenly for commercial and residential development, and Reilly anticipates receiving at least $1 million. “No project is getting everything they’re asking for,” Reilly says.

The grant cannot be used toward any new construction, just for demolition and rehabilitation. However, many city residents are concerned that it focuses too much on the former instead of the latter.

Terrence Robinson, a resident of East Buffalo is anxious about the demolition of historic homes. He saw Monday’s Dyngus Day celebration in the Broadway-Fillmore district as “an infusion of life into that community” that was a positive step toward attracting residents into the neighborhood. “I’m concerned about the historical, cultural, and social fabric,” he says. “Once it’s demolished, there is no chance to recall it.”

Aaron Bartley, executive director of PUSH Buffalo, a West Side housing development organization, encourages other community development organizations and neighborhood leaders to get behind the proposal. Bartley has seen real changes in his community because of past years’ Restore NY grant money and he believes this funding is a chance to tackle “a monumental problem that few cities have faced.”

The key to receiving more money from the state is all in the marketing, according to Reilly. He says the city hasn’t obtained a bigger slice of the pie in past years because the grant application has been unfocused. Buffalo is competing with the rest of the state for funding and needs to fight for its allotment. The state is looking for feasibility and readiness—essentially projects that are packaged and ready to go.

Sam Magavern, a University at Buffalo law professor and co-director of the Partnership for Public Good (PPG), is concerned the city isn’t including enough in its grant application. He is pushing for lawmakers to consider adding block-by-block and green initiatives. The city does not currently have green criteria for demolition or rehabilitation, but Magavern says it should push for salvaging or recycling materials. Chicago requires 50 percent of all construction and demolition debris to be recycled. As a trial, Magavern suggests lawmakers could write recycling materials into the contract for 50 houses they demolish.

He also believes that including block-by-block planning—like how PUSH focuses on a five-block radius—would make the application stronger. Planners must step back and look at the whole process from demolition to the green space that will be left afterward. “Each block is so different, that’s why you need it,” says Magavern. “You can’t just look at the structure, you have to look at the spaces too.”

The old Kentucky Fried Chicken at 448 Elmwood Avenue is among those commercial properties on the grant list. The money would be used to aid in the demolition of the building after which construction for the planned multi-use building can begin. Abandoned libraries like Fairfield and North Park have also made the list and qualify under the grant because the buildings  are currently vacant.

Reilly reminds residents that demolition plans for any building is not absolute; if someone wants to purchase and rehabilitate property, they’re always open to compromise. For this grant, the Office of Strategic Planning is working under the umbrella of the Queen City Hub comprehensive plan, which was adopted in 2004 and lays out a sustainable development strategy for the city. “We want to learn from our experience of failure in Buffalo,” he says.

We couldn’t stop by the grand opening of Price-Rite on Sunday, but John Duke of the First Amendment Club sent us this account:

Shopping for groceries became a lot less expensive on Sunday. As a matter of fact, for the first time in a long while, food was being sold at the Rite Price in the Stuyvesant Plaza, 250 Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo.

After reviewing how the city was able to bring Price Rite into what is unquestionably the Rite Location, Mayor Brown cut the ribbon to ceremoniously open the supermarket to throngs of eager shoppers, who were assisted by 130 of their friends and neighbors who are now employed by the store.

125 of the employees live within four sides of a city block. “Price Rite is environmentally friendly,” according to State Senator Antoine Thompson, “and their employees do not need automobiles to travel back and forth to work.” Price Rite also encourages the use of reusable totes. There is a charge of 10 cents per plastic bag for non-tote users.

I put two items in my tote, 17 pounds of meat, and took it to the check out line.  There I handed the cashier a $10 bill and received change back. I purchased a 12.77 lb. kosher turkey (I was surprised to find out that turkeys are religious, but then again they probably do a lot of praying around the Holidays) and a 3.48 lb. corned beef (I always wake up praying after Saint Patrick’s Day). Some how I felt I had done my Sabbath Duty.

The corned beef at $1.79 per lb. came to $6.23 and the turkey at $0.29 cents per lb. came to $3.70. On the way out I was handed a complimentary 8oz bottle of Tropical Energia and 2 cans of Pepsi.  Once home, after a tiring morning, I drank the energy drink and quickly wrote this column while doing my Spring cleaning and cooking the turkey…

I’m not big on energy drinks; I think I’ll stick to not being able to handle coffee. I’d write more, but I gotta run, I think I’m about to take up jogging. I sure hope the turkey doesn’t burn before I get back.

Artvoice Top 40 correspondent Brad Deck talks with American Idol runner-up David Archuleta, who comes to town tonight:

Mere moments after just barely losing the American Idol crown last summer, musician David Archuleta saw his wildest dream become reality nonetheless.

“I was in my dressing room after the show ended, and they came in and told me how they were excited to work with me, and just like that I had to get started,” Archuleta told Artvoice. “I was thinking that I’d be sitting on it for a while, looking for what opportunities would come around, and who would be the right people to work with. But it was like, ‘Whoa.’”

David Archuleta plays Club Infinity tonight.

And just like “Whoa,” David Archuleta has sung his way into the hearts of millions of teenage girls who have helped to make his debut album a certified gold success, and who are sure to turn out in droves to Club Infinity when Archuleta’s first solo tour stops there tonight.

Archuleta’s career could have easily gone the way of many American Idol runners-up since the reality competition juggernaut debuted in 2002—the career legitimacies of Justin Guarini and Blake Lewis never caught on, while even one-time middle-aged mom magnet Clay Aiken has turned second-rate Broadway has-been—but it would appear that by way of good old-fashioned talent, Archuleta the musician is here to stay.

(more…)

We get mail:

Local writer Jay Joseph on Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich: Infamous Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is not only as foolish as his name and hair, but may go down as being the most arrogant and ignorant governor in American history. In case this is new news to you, Blagojevich, who is on his second-term as Democratic governor of Illinois, was arrested in December on federal charges that he attempted to sell Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat. Blagojevich has been accused of calling the seat “golden” on a wiretap, and describing this Senate seat as something he won’t “give up for nothing.”

All of this however did not stop the governor from performing his duties; in fact, he actually believes he has done nothing wrong! This is the man who campaigned for his job on a promise to clean up the government. After Blago bailed himself out, he returned to office and told the press he refuses to resign and will continue to act as governor.

Here’s where things get screwy or normal in the world of politics. Following an over-whelming cry for Blagojevich’s impeachment, the Illinois Supreme Court strangely rejected a motion to declare him unfit for office from Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. She said that his actions should not have been that of a governor’s. No one wanted to hear it though, and he remained in power. And so Blago’s ego grew even larger. The disgraced governor then hired R. Kelly’s former attorney, and held a press conference claiming he did nothing wrong, but refused to answer any questions or discuss his statements recorded on the FBI wiretaps.

Soon thereafter, in an attempt to draw attention away from himself, Blagojevich appointed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to Obama’s seat on December 30th 2008. Since Blago is under federal investigation, Senate Democratic leaders initially did not permit Burris to be sworn in, leading to a brand new fiasco. Burris got mad, Harry Reid got mad, majority leaders got mad and eventually Burris was appointed to the seat. Blago knew just what he was doing with that one.

Alas, all good things must come to an end, even for the gov. With growing outrage over Blagojevich, his conduct and the threat he may present to the Obama team, the Illinois House recently voted 114-1 in favor to impeach the ridiculous governor. The 21-member House committee recommended that Rod Blagojevich be impeached for abuse of power, and only one House member voted in Blago’s favor. Blagojevich criticized the decision in a news conference calling the House “biased” and stating that a Senate trial will produce a different result. He even concluded his speech by quoting a Tennyson poem—what a blowhard this guy is!

However, even with Blago’s gleam of hope and knowledge of poetry, it still wasn’t enough for him to make an appearance at his own impeachment trail. The state Senate officially began proceedings for a final impeachment trial Monday, January 26th without the governor or his attorney anywhere in sight. Boycotting the proceedings, Blago claimed they were unfair to him, and instead made appearances on programs such as Good Morning America, The View, and Larry King Live. Blagojevich told that the Illinois state government has an agenda against him, that he has “done nothing illegal” and that he even considered appointing Oprah Winfrey to Obama’s vacant Senate seat. I assure you, as ridiculous as all of this sounds, nothing has been made up.

Blago has been quite the character and really seems to be getting himself in over his head, but unfortunately he’s a dirty politician from our country’s dirtiest political state. You can put money on the fact that he will fight and fight and spend millions of dollars doing so until everyone gives up or forgets what he is on trial for. The man clearly has made a mockery of himself and Illinois for that matter, even though there isn’t much grace there to begin with. He’s being accused of trying to make a profit through this appointment, but he claims any remarks of his on the wiretaps are taken out of context. Hopefully the state Senate isn’t so easily fooled by Blago when he finally decides to attend his own trial. And hopefully he gets more than the usual slap on the wrist for our trusted politicians.