BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Water Board is coming under fire for a lack of transparency in how it conducts its meetings.
The NY State Committee on Open Government in Albany in a letter to 2 On Your Side says the board violated the Open Meetings Law when it limited access to a public meeting in September.
The committee also said the agency appears to have violated the law by not posting the minutes of its meetings online. Governments are required to post meeting minutes within two weeks but the water board had not done so since June. The board on Wednesday posted the minutes of its previous three meetings online Wednesday.
The Water Board is chaired by O.J. McFoy, who was appointed to the post 17 years ago by former Mayor Byron Brown and who also serves as general manager of the Buffalo Sewer Authority. McFoy has also been criticized for failing to fluoridate Buffalo’s water and for traveling extensively to conferences in different states and countries.
“That is not good government, and it’s a clear violation of the Open Meetings Law,” said Paul Wolf, an attorney who is the founder and president of the New York Coalition for Open Government, a nonprofit group that is not related to the state open government committee.
“The public and the media have a right to observe government officials conduct business in person. And it’s not an invitation only, or you have to watch it online, but you’re not allowed to come in person. That’s not how government is supposed to work.”
The Committee also said two other potential violations of the Open Meetings Law that 2 On Your Side outlined in a letter last week did not violate the law.
When a 2 On Your Side reporter sent an email to McFoy seeking comment, we received an out-of-the-office message. Sewer Authority board materials show that McFoy is scheduled to be in Tucson, Ariz., from Nov. 10 to Nov. 15 for the National Association of Clean Water Agencies conference.
McFoy in an email to 2 On Your Side said city employees recently posted meeting minutes to the Buffalo Water website.
"In addition, as we navigate cybersecurity concerns with our website partner, we will make available videos of our public meetings as soon as possible," McFoy wrote. "We strive for transparency in all of our dealings."
Sewer Authority Board Chairman Herbert Bellamy Jr. and the authority’s general counsel were also approved to attend the conference at a cost not to exceed $8,500.
A 2 On Your Side Investigation in September found that since 2015, McFoy spent 297 weekdays traveling to water conferences in 23 states. He took a total of 55 work trips at an estimated cost of $161,000, according to sewer authority meeting minutes.
The State Committee on Open Government is a part of state government but does not have the authority to sanction or assess penalties against governments that do not comply with the law.
Deputy Mayor Brian A. Gould said last week that Acting Mayor Christopher P. Scanlon — who has been dealing with the unexpected death of his brother — would "strongly recommend" that both the Water Board and Sewer Authority meet the transparency requirements outlined in the Open Meetings Law.
Gould on Wednesday said the new administration was working on a broader plan to increase transparency in city government and also on a new travel policy for city employees that would set a "strict budget" for travel. Gould said he expects to announce more details of those plans next week.
Wolf said an increased emphasis on transparency would be beneficial to city taxpayers.
“My hope is Mayor Scanlon will make this a priority,” Wolf said. “We’ve seen time and time again where plenty of politicians have said that but the follow through has been lacking. Hopefully he’ll be different. He can show us how committed he is to open government.”