Buffalo Rising has posted Brian Davis’s Facebook page response to Jim Heaney’s front-page analysis of his personal financial history in last Sunday’s Buffalo News. Shame on me for not beating them to it: A friend emailed this to me on Monday, but I honestly thought it was a joke:

Happy Easter! I just wanted to take this opportunity to say, “thank you” to all of you whom shown support and offered words of encouragement as I have endured major public scrutiny over the last 8 weeks. Recognizing, that as a “Public Official”, public scrutiny is something I must deal with and at the same time be held accountable.

The most recent article published in the Buffalo News was filled with slander and inaccuracies and put me off as a “Deadbeat”.  Everyone that knows me know that if there is nothing more important to me, my kids are my pride and joy! I proud my myself on knowing this to be a fact and more importantly, knowing that I place my kids before my own selfish needs. More importantly, to see nonsense published makes me wonder who they are talking about, where did this info come from and why did it make front page of the newspaper?

Well let me tell you, this info is attributed to the Democratic Party, one developer, and the news repeated role in trying to pick their own elected officials to represent what is known as districts commonly represented by “blacks!” This is evidenced by the successful attempt to rid the Buffalo Common Council of representatives like, James Pitts, Charley Fisher and Beverly Gray and now the methodical attempt to rid the City of Buffalo of myself and MAYOR BYRON BROWN.

I refuse to allow this to go any further and now have vowed that I will be fighting back, speaking the truth, letting everyone who cares to know what is really going on regularly. Equally important I will be re-doubling my efforts to make the Ellicott District (City of Buffalo) the best district in the City of Buffalo. We can not allow for those that had a small monopoly on this city continue to play these games, choose our Mayor AND Councilmembers or pimp our communities any longer.

THE FIRST THING THAT I AM ASKING IS THAT ALL THOSE THAT HAVE A HOME DELIVERY OF THE BUFFALO NEWS CALL 842-1111 AND CANCEL YOUR
SUBSCRIPTION OF THE PAPER.  IF YOU ARE IN FACT READING THIS EMAIL, YOU HAVE INTERNET SERVICE AND YOU CAN READ THE NEWS ON-LINE FOR FREE. SHOULD YOU NEED TO PHYSICALLY READ THE PAPER, YOU CAN PICK IT UP AT ANY STORE OR BUY FROM AGENTS STANDING ON MANY OF THE CORNERS. THESE FOLKS GET A % OF THE MONEY THEY TURN IN. YOU CAN HELP IN THIS SMALL WAY TO KEEP THESE AGENTS EMPLOYED AND TAKE MONEY OUT OF THE NEWS POCKET!

This is a very small way you can stand up for your community, show your support for progress and send a clear message to the news that their lies, slander, attacks, and control will no longer be tolerated.

When calling the news to cancel your subscription, let them know that you have had it with their attacks on your community and I encourage you to get 3 others to do the same. WATCH WHAT THIS SMALL DEED WILL DO TO STOP THE NONSENSE OF THE BUFFALO NEWS, I PROMISE!

That “one developer,” I assume, is Davis’s nemesis, Carl Paladino. Paladino has long complained about Davis’s failure to file campaign finance disclosure forms with the state, and he certainly has little positive to say about Davis as a public servant, but to my knowledge Paladino never spread stories of the sort that Heaney found: the failure to pay child support, the suspension of his driver’s license, a suspended campaign account, a litany of bad checks, tax liens, etc. None of those stories came my way from folks in Len Lenihan’s Democratic headquarters, and I don’t think anyone whispered these stories into Heaney’s ear, either. They’re public records. If Heaney and I have anything to apologize for, it’s not digging up this stuff earlier.

It’s typical of Buffalo’s politicians to spin criticism as politically motivated. Davis says he’s going to start “speaking the truth” in regard to these matters. I’m eager for him to begin. He’s been ducking my phone calls and emails for more than two months on these issues alone.

UPDATE: Bill Trezevant, the once and future contender for the Ellicott District Council seat, who wrote the Common Council asking for an investigation into Davis’s behavior, responds to Davis’s insinuation that these revelations are racially motivated attacks:

“Attacks on Me and the Mayor are from the Democratic Party…They are attacks on Black Districts”…

This is the last straw.  The days of Race Wars should have been over when my white Polish mother married my Black father in 1966 when their marriage was illegal under state law.  We as a community have got to come together and say that we want a better tomorrow.  Not one based on race, not one based on gender, but one based on who we can all be, regardless of color.

I don’t know of one section of this city that believes it is “a Black District” or “White District” or “Red District”, but rather as one district.  A district with common hopes, common dreams and common goals.  Mr. Davis after seven years of division now says that the scrutiny on him and the Mayor are because they are “black”, rather than because of what they have done and not done is a slap in the face to every citizen of Buffalo.

I need not go further, except to say that when one is guilty they usually deflect and seek to move the heat to another subject.  In this case, Mr. Davis is trying to do just that.  Mayor, when will you speak out?

Once upon a time, Trezevant and I had harsh words with one another over AV’s treatment of the stewardship of Transfiguration Church on Sycamore Street. He eventually came to convince me that we’d been unfair to him and his partners in that long and star-crossed rehabilitation project, a subject we will revisit someday. In the meantime, I take no position on his candidacy for Davis’s seat, whenever it might be contested. But I agree with him entirely that the suggestion that race motivates reporting on Davis’s financial irresponsibility is absurd and desperate.

Lest folks believe from two earlier posts (here and here) that it’s only anti-Lenihan forces, bankrolled by Responsible New York, polluting the mailboxes of Democratic Party county committee people, get a load of this mailing touting Lenihan’s accomplishments:

And here’s another one (the third I’ve seen) attacking Lenihan and elections commissioner Dennis Ward. Still now word on who, exactly, committee people are supposed to vote for instead of Lenihan:

Yesterday Democratic committee members, who meet on Saturday at Hearthstone Manor for the post-primary re-organization meeting, received a flier in the mail attacking current county chairman Len Lenihan and elections czar Dennis Ward. I posted it below.

Now those same committee members are receiving a new flier peddling the same message:

Still no word on who these committee members are supposed to vote for in order to rid the party of the vile Lenihan and Ward. Nor is it clear who’s paying for these mailings, though one might reasonably guess it’s Steve Pigeon using Responsible New York funds. (Over at BuffaloPundit, a sharp-eyed commenter notes that the bulk permit on these mailers matches that on a Baby Joe Mesi mailing, which would seem to corroborate that supposition.)

Erie County Democrats just keep swinging away at one another.

In the wake of last week’s primary, County Democratic Chairman Len Lenihan seems assured of winning another term when the part re-organizes this week. But that hasn’t stopped those who sought to unseat him from continuing their campaign. This flier arrived in today’s mail at the house of Peter Reese, who was elected last Tuesday to the county Democratic committee (click for larger image):

Who paid for this? Who exactly does it support?

Reese said, “I am all for change, but who the hell are the candidates?”