BUFFALO, N.Y. — This past summer, speculation has run amok regarding exit strategies for longtime elected officials:
Will SUNY Buffalo State hire Mayor Byron Brown, or perhaps Congressman Brian Higgins, as its next president?
How about Erie Community College? That financially beleaguered institution, too, is seeking new leadership, having run through three presidents — one of them carrying the prefix “interim” for two years — since former Congressman Jack Quinn left the post in 2017.
Or perhaps Higgins, who began his 10th term in January, will land instead as the head of Shea’s Performing Arts Center, which lost its president last fall, amid staff complaints of a toxic work environment. It’s a prestigious job with high pay and little stress, at least compared to Buffalo State or ECC, both of which face fiscal crises and declining enrollments.
