BUFFALO, N.Y. — Aside from the somewhat historic changing of the guard in the Mayor's office on the 2nd floor of city hall, it was business as usual in council chambers on the 13th floor.
The now 8-member common council began its 2 p.m. regular meeting and had it wrapped up by 3.
There was a bit of back and forth about a non-owner-occupied short-term rental moratorium that eventually was punted back to the legislative committee.
There was also a curious debate between majority leader Leah Halton-Pope and University District Councilmember Rasheed N.C. Wyatt about the charter revision committee that was passed by the council.
If you only watched, or attended, the meeting, you would have never known that it was the first day in nearly 19 years that the council was working in a city with a new administration.
After the meeting, however, several members reacted to the news of the day, and what they hope the administration focuses on with them.
"The first thing is taking care of the budget," University District Councilmember Rasheed N.C. Wyatt said. "I mean, that's the most important thing."
During his final press conference as mayor, Byron Brown said there is no fiscal crisis, but rather fiscal challenges.
"I do not concur with that and I think that we knew that we've had a fiscal crisis for a number of years, but the American rescue money saved us, and we did not prepare ourselves," Wyatt said. "We did not take the appropriate measures that we should have to protect the residents of the City of Buffalo from outlandish tax increases."
In the past, former mayor Brown said that the council always voted and approved his budgets, essentially making them complicit in the city's current fiscal state.
"Numbers don't lie," said council majority leader Leah Halton-Pope. "So I'll say that there is an issue with money a little bit, we'll see where we end up with from the budget, but from my perspective, it looks like we have a little bit of a shortfall to overcome."
Fillmore District Councilmember Mitch Nowakowski and Lovejoy District's Bryan Bollman also said that the budget issues need to be a priority with the new administration.
"The fiscal situation is something that this council will have to hit head-on," Bollman said. "I have been in leadership with the now acting mayor, and we've built a good relationship. So I'm looking forward to, you know, having great communication with him, working closely with him."
One reality of the situation is that the council is now an 8-person governing body instead of 9. Acting Mayor Scanlon is technically filling in that role until the end of 2025. His south district council seat will likely remain empty.
Several council members don't believe there will be any deadlocked votes within the chambers.
"I'm confident that we'll find five votes and keep the city moving," Nowakowski said. "Compromise is key. That means you could still get to five by having eight members."
The south district seat could be filled if Scanlon decides to run for Mayor and wins in the November 2025 election, or if the corporation counsel for the city determines an alternative could be figured out.
"We'll have to go until the council president either vacates his seat by winning the election for mayor or returns back to the seat," Nowakowski said. "The Corporation Council has opined and said that our charter states that it is not vacant to be filled, so the common council cannot just usurp municipal protocols or laws and appoint somebody, that's not legal."
Upon hearing that first part, 2 On Your Side asked Nowakowski if he knew for sure that Scanlon was running for mayor.
"Certainly looks like he is," Nowakowski said. "And so I look forward to a hearty election and have faith in the acting mayor to during this unprecedented time to do a good job."