School Board has Cake, Eats it too!
The Buffalo school board held a special meeting at 3:30 this afternoon, called by board member Catherine Nugent Panepinto to “vote on pursuing disciplinary action against the individuals named in the report of attorney David Edmunds and/or as discussed by attorney Karl Kristoff.”
After the Pledge of Allegiance, board President Kapsiak began the meeting by moving to enter into executive section, which was immediately seconded by Catherine Collins, who said that she, for one, intended to mention people’s names—therefore making an executive session mandatory. Within five minutes of typical chaos, the press was again sent into the antechamber that has become their second home since issues involving Crystal Barton and McKinley High School have become public knowledge. Nugent Panepinto never even got to read her motion.
After half an hour, the door opened and BPS lawyer Karl Kristoff read a motion to share all the raw data collected by the $25,000 Edmunds report with school board members—something they’ve never had access to thus far—before deciding if any disciplinary action might be warranted.
Here’s how the vote went down: Four in favor (Nugent Panepinto, Hernandez, Petrucci, Jacobs). Perry-Cahill said she would like to “sustain.” Her colleagues corrected her use of terminology and asked if she would like to “abstain.” She said yes, she would like to do that, and she was joined in her abstention by Collins. Kapsiak and Johnson voted against seeing any more evidence.
Vivian Evans, although present in another room, would not take part in the vote.
Thus, with only four votes in favor of examining all the evidence generated by the $25,000 of taxpayer funds that were used to compensate Edmunds, the motion did not receive the five votes it would have needed to pass. Chief of Staff James M. Kane quickly observed: “It doesn’t pass!” He had the tone of a dealer at a poker tournament, interpreting all the hands for the spectators.
Next, it was time for the board to vote on new officers. Vivian Evans entered to take part in this vote.
Again, the room stood to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Kapsiak retained her position as board president, Collins replaced Hernandez as VP of Executive Affairs, Jacobs replaced Nugent Panepinto as VP of Student Affairs.
In a stunning and unpredictable coincidence, each vote was identical, with Perry-Cahill, Collins, Johnson, Kapsiak, Jacobs, and Evans voting for the winners—while Nugent Panepinto, Petrucci, and Hernandez voted for the losers.
Kapsiak, Collins, and Jacobs were sworn in to their new positions and the meeting was called to a close.
Florence Johnson was the first to move in on the cake. She and Perry-Cahill moved in for a slice after sharing hugs with Collins, Jacobs, and Kapsiak.
And even though it was a big cake, Nugent Panepinto, Petrucci, and Hernandez didn’t have any.
June 27, 2008
John LaFalce on Casino Gambling
Bruce Jackson has just posted this essay by former Congressman John LaFalce over at Buffalo Report:
On June 25, 2008, a gigantic struggle took place on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives involving casino gambling in the State of Michigan. That controversy and struggle is highly instructive on the question of the legality of casino gambling in Buffalo.
Two titans of the House, John Dingell (D-Mich), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and John Conyers (D-Mich), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, stood in opposing corners and came out fighting.
Rep. Dingell wants a casino in Port Huron, and doesn’t want the issue to go to the U.S. Department of Interior for its review. So he is trying to “legislatively” bypass Interior review, and permit casino gambling in Port Huron by mandating that the Secretary of the Interior “shall” take into trust certain land as part of a land claim settlement. The bill at least recognized that the land had to be taken into trust.
Rep. Conyers says he opposes gambling in principle, but also doesn’t want another casino in Michigan, which would compete with the casino that already exists in his city of Detroit. Conyers also argued it would be wrong to bypass the Interior Department’s review as to whether it should take it into trust, especially since he is confident Interior will render a negative opinion. An overwhelming majority of the House agreed with Conyers, and defeated the attempted bypass by a vote of 121 to 298.
So how is this relevant to Buffalo?
June 25, 2008
Jamie Lembeck Passing
Jamie Lembeck, a loyal friend of Hallwalls (and many of us personally), and devotee of the arts (especially music) and man about town known to (and loved by) most everyone in the art and music scene of Buffalo, died at home overnight, June 24–25, 2008. As was his wish, he had just been released from the hospital earlier yesterday, where he had been treated for newly developing respiratory problems and had contracted a serious infection, both complications of the prolonged paralysis that required him to use a wheelchair for most of his adult life, but which never kept him from getting around or attending more concerts and other art events than just about any non-wheelchair-using person you could name. You never thought of Jamie as being “wheelchair bound”; his wheelchair was his means of mobility, and he was always on the cutting edge of technologies for independent living.
He passed away peacefully in his home in the former firehouse at 1416 Main Street, which he had designed and built as a multi-unit model of independent living, with both close friends and hospice caregivers present, though he had been expected to last longer than the few hours he had left there.
Although many of our current Board members might not know Jamie, Jamie served on Hallwalls’ Board of Directors for a full decade, from January 1996 through January 2006, until the institution of term limits that year (coinciding with our opening in The Church, as it was then called), but he was a long-time supporter before that, and remained a loyal supporter to the end. He advised our architects (both Hallwalls’ and the entire Church project’s) on accessibility, as he had done on so many projects in Buffalo, and one of his legacies is certainly the exemplary accessibility of Babeville, which he took advantage of as long as he could.
The last Hallwalls event I know he attended was the full-to-capacity Eyes & Ears: Sound Needs Image Part II, on April 5, 2008. He had wanted to attend Artists & Models at the end of last month, but, not feeling up to it, he sent his regrets—along with a donation—with a friend.
Artists & Models founder Tony Billoni, former Hallwalls Board member Wendy Pierce, and others of Jamie’s closest friends are making arrangements for a memorial service in Buffalo (probably at the Unitarian Church), and I will let you know the details when they are set.
photos from our Grand Opening weekend in January 2006, with Bruce Adams and Tom Hayduk.
Ed Cardoni
Executive Director, Hallwalls
June 23, 2008
Update: Tobe’s Resignation
UPDATE: Here’s Tobe’s statement on his departure:
At the request of Mayor Byron W. Brown, today, I submitted my resignation as Commissioner of the Department of Economic Development Permit and Inspection Services.
Mayor Brown indicated to me on Friday June 20, 2008 that he will be announcing a reorganization of the City government in the near future and that my resignation will facilitate his plans.I am pleased that when I leave City government Buffalo will be more prosperous, better managed, and more optimistic than when I arrived two and a half years ago. We have seen record investment in both the public and private sectors, have acquired and are developing over 400 acres of former brownfields, and have faced and overcome many of the problems of the past that prevented Buffalo from moving forward. I am confident that the improvements in the City are continuing and will be permanent.
It has been an honor to have been associated with the many hard working employees of the City who strive each day to make Buffalo a better place and with the dedicated citizens of Buffalo who volunteer so much to help the City.
I will depart in two weeks and intend to conduct a smooth and professional transition. Deputy Commissioner James Comerford will serve as acting commissioner until Mayor Brown makes a determination about the permanent leadership of the Department.
My wife Susan and I will remain in Buffalo where I will seek new challenges that will allow me to continue working to improve Buffalo and the region.
The mayor still has not released a statement on Tobe’s resignation, which was promised for this afternoon.
Rich Tobe Resigns
At the request of Mayor Byron Brown, Rich Tobe is resigning his post as commissioner of Economic Development, Permits and Inspection Services. According to Brian Meyer at the Buffalo News, Brown asked Tobe to resign on Friday. His last day will be July 4—exactly two weeks notice.
Tobe has earned a reputation as a sharp administrator who did good work with a short staff and a monumental workload. It’s not clear when he began to run afoul of Brown and Deputy Mayor Steve Casey, but the first time I heard of a rift was during the city’s negotiations with the Seneca Gaming Commission over Fulton Street. Tobe had been a part of the city’s negotiating team, we were told, and then was booted off. For Tobe, it’s been downhill with Casey and Brown ever since. Casey, in particular, seemed to single out Tobe and his department for sharp criticism during CitiStat hearings.
Whatever one made of Tobe’s policies and his department generally, he was certainly the most responsive public servant in the Brown administration. He responded to email. His voicemail was set up (seriously, not everyone in City Hall bothers) and he returned phone calls, even to tell you he wasn’t authorized to respond to your questions. In a mayoral administration that keeps a tight lid on communications, Tobe frequently was the only one who would answer questions. Once I introduced him to a friend as “the only person in City Hall who’s allowed to speak with me,” and he responded, “What makes you think I’m allowed to?”
The mayor is supposed to issue a statement this afternoon. Brian Meyer has the story at the News.
June 20, 2008
Assembly says High Time for Change in “Marihuana” Law
The marble halls of the State Capitol in Albany are echoing once again with debate on the scandalous topic of medicinal “marihuana,” as the Assembly passed a bill (89-52) in favor of allowing doctors to prescribe the drug to very sick patients who don’t respond well to currently legal pharmaceuticals. Currently, 12 states have medicinal marijuana laws on the books.
Under the new bill, patients would be legally allowed to possess 2.5 ounces of pot for treatment of chronic pain, for example, without threat of arrest. The State would also grant them the right to grow up to 12 plants for their own use.
Under the new bill, “the department of health would monitor such use and promulgate rules and regulations for registry identification cards; (and) provides for reports by the department of health to the governor and legislature on the medical use of marihuana.” (Interesting, how the current documents adopt the same antiquated spelling as the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937—not commonly used since Louis Armstrong was a young viper.) (more…)
Foul Rumor
Rumors of Mayor Byron Brown’s imminent resignation are apparently premature.
His denial that the rumors are true, of course, are front-page news.
Here at AV we heard these rumors earlier in the week but figured they were wishful thinking on the part of the rumormongers. Some of them said that an FBI investigation into BMHA would touch the mayor. Over at the Lefty Line, where Buffalo cops go to gripe and plot, a poster suggested that the purported investigation had to do with organized crime and money-laundering. Governor David Paterson, a Brown ally and fellow Queens native, would helicopter Brown out of the scandal and deposit him in a new, comfortable job in Albany.
The Lefty Line and Glenn Gramigna seem to have been the first to post the rumors, and their posts apparently prompted the mayor’s denial, which was delivered in writing at a press conference called yesterday for 4pm, with 17 minutes notice.
The denial, of course, sounds like a cork popping: Let flow the wild speculation.
Livery Update
The court order that halted complete demolition of the former White Bros. livery on Jersey Street has not prevented the city’s demolition contractor from picking away at the building, piece by piece. As these picture show, most of the roof on the Jersey Street side of the hulking brick structure is gone. The peak of the front facade has been taken, too.
According to Commissioner Rich Tobe of the Department of Economic Development, Permit and License Services, the court initially agreed—and continues to maintain, as of yesterday’s hearing—that the city’s contractor, Empire Dismantlement, could continue to do demo work deemed essential to prevent imminent dangers: falling bricks, leaning walls, falling roof.
The group of neighbors trying to save at least some part of the livery building will meet the city and the building’s owner, Robert Freudenheim, in court again this morning at 9:30am. (You can watch interviews with the neighbors and Freudenheim here.)
The initial collapse of the wall on the building’s east side was caused when a massive truss, from which parts of the floors are hung, failed and swung out, knocking out a hole and dropping parts of two floors, according to initial reports by a city inspector. (On entering the building, the inspector saw a yellow VW bug embedde
d in floor, ass end up; the car had been on the third floor before the collapse.) Five houses were evacuated, the residents forced to stay with friends or relatives or in hotels (at their own expense). The emergency demolition, bid out last Thursday morning at close to $300,000, is expected to take two to three weeks.
The demo contractor was supposed to come to Tobe on Wednesday with four demolition options, reflecting various possible outcomes, ranging from complete demolition—in which the entire building would be pushed into a hole and bulldozed until flat—to preservation of, perhaps, the front facade, parts of the walls, or the tower in the northeast corner of the building (pictured below, appearing more or less intact).
More news soon.
UPDATE: The brick-by-brick demolition will continue, per this morning’s court session. Nothing else is resolved.
June 19, 2008
Brian Davis Calls In: When Do I Get to Speak?
Ellicott District Councilmember Brian Davis wasn’t too pleased with this post, about Stillwater’s efforts to get a permit for a giant new patio behind the restaurant. Many neighbors are opposed, because the patio will face residential property and Stillwater’s primary business is its bar. Neighbors expect the proposed 4,000-square-foot patio to be loud. The Preservation Board, the Planning Board, and the Allentown Association all have recommended against granting a permit. Over Allentown weekend, Stillwater employees passed out what looked like a Stillwater business card with Davis’s name and contact information to passersby, asking for their support and suggesting Davis was on their side.
Neighbors seem to believe Davis is taking the part of the restaurant too, but Davis disputes that. He called AV just an hour or so after I’d posted a scan of that faux business card on Monday. He said he’s merely trying to build consensus between the neighbors and Stillwater’s management.
“I’m only encouraging [the neighbors] to come back with something smaller, come back with something prettier, so I can condition the hell out of them and you can get what you want, by minimizing the noise, and everything else,” Davis said. “This isn’t Brian Davis trying to push a patio or anything else. I’m trying to build a consensus as I’ve always done.”
Currently the site of the proposed patio is a parking lot, and Stillwater allows its patrons to step outside into the lot to smoke. In fact, Stillwater sometimes has chairs and tables out there, and even has booked entertainment in the parking lot. In other words, the restaurant uses it like a patio now, though they have no permit. Still, Davis seems to think the neighborhood is missing an opportunity to put restrictions on Stillwater’s use of its proposed patio—even though the restaurant is currently ignoring the laws that prevent its current uses.
Davis says he’s not pushing a patio, but he’s suggesting that neighbors—who oppose a patio and have won the support of a community organization and two city boards—come to the table with a plan for a patio. One that’s smaller, greener, and more quiet, but a patio nonetheless.
He says he building consensus, but at Tuesday’s committee hearing on the issue of Stillwater’s patio, he said he didn’t want to meet with the neighbors or with Stillwater’s management. He told them to meet with one another if they wanted and to submit information to him; he said he wanted as much information on the subject as he could get, but he didn’t want to meet with either party.
In his phone call to AV on Monday, Davis characterized the opposition to the patio as “a personality conflict,” and an “underground campaign” orchestrated by a few because “…well, I don’t like this guy because I represent his former employer or all this other nonsense…”
He didn’t elaborate on that. He did, however, take me to task for not calling him and asking him about that faux business card before posting it. He started the phone call by asking, “Is there anything you wanted to ask me?” and ended it by saying, “This is the third article that’s kind of kicked my ass about something without me even getting a chance to talk about it.”
Well now, that’s a separate issue, and here’s my response: Elected officials like Brian Davis have microphones in front of them all the time. They serve our interests (or are supposed to), but they occupy positions of privilege and power. They never lack for a platform if they want to speak. They submit letters into the public record. They speak to the media. They speak to CitiStat’s cameras. Some of them even meet with community groups and concerned citizens and talk to them. Elected officials get to speak all the time.
I’ve been going to Common Council hearings every other week since I moved back to town in 2006, whenever I can. I miss some, but I’m pretty regular. Many people I know, especially those who work in city government, wonder why I bother. That stuff is all scripted, they tell me. And so mindnumbingly dull. That’s true. Still, I figure it’s government’s chance to talk to the public. I read the documents submitted to the Council, and report on what they say. I report what councilmembers say during their meetings. When they’re done speaking, I look around for someone else who hasn’t had a say yet.
So I base my understanding of Brian Davis’s positions—and the positions of all elected officials—on public statements and on public records. Davis doesn’t need the luxury of 15 more minutes of private discussion with me on the phone, when so many others don’t have the platforms he’s afforded to make their opinions heard.
June 16, 2008
Tribute to Tim Russert
Yesterday’s episode of Meet The Press was a special affair. As Russert’s chair sat empty, his friends and colleagues reminisced and paid tribute to Russert - both as a journalist, and as a person.
In case you missed it, the commercial-free netcast is available in its entirety care of MSNBC.com. You can watch it here after the jump (click on “more…”).
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