BUFFALO, N.Y. — Two items on Tuesday's agenda for the Buffalo Common Council legislation committee have attracted quite a bit of attention from the public in recent months.
Pay raises and snow plans.
The legislation committee will be discussing a resolution to change the deadline for the annual snow plan that the administration must deliver to the council.
Currently, the city charger mandates the plan must be submitted by November 1.
The resolution, filed by University Councilman Rahseed N.C. Wyatt, moves the deadline to April 1 in order to make any changes that need to be made before the snow falls.
Members of the Common Council recently requested the presence of fire, police and public works commissioner at a general Council meeting to provide updates on various projects.
Those projects include new equipment purchased for improve emergency response during snow storms, an update on the emergency manager and fleet manager positions, and an update on the emergency operations center.
"We ask a multitude of items, questions, and it just feels like we're being paralyzed with evasive responses," said Fillmore District Councilmember Mitch Nowakowski.
As for the topic of pay raises, Paul Wolf from the New York Coalition for Open Government has been critical of the Common Council all summer for seemingly overlooking perceived violations of open meetings laws.
"I think there was a lot of mistakes made in doing this," Wolf said. "in a week's time, they appointed a commission, had three meetings, issued a report."
According to the April 18 Council meeting packet, the board of review appointed ten members to the salary review commission.
The board of review consists of Mayor Byron Brown, Council President Darius Pridgen, and Comptroller Barbara Miller-Williams. Wolf contends that they never met to discuss the salary review commission.
"I think things got sloppy here and the council did it themselves," Wolf said. "The charter is clear, they don't have the authority to do that."
The salary review commission was formed on April 18, they held their first meeting on April 24, and by May 1 they were able to file a report with the Common Council.
"It's just amazing that in a week's time when it comes to getting a pay raise, things can be done super fast," Wolf said.
The legislation committee of the Council is slated to discuss the authorization bill that would give the Mayor, Council and Comptroller a 12.6% pay raise. Additionally, the council approved a 86% pay raise for members of the Buffalo School Board.
The legislation committee meeting begins at 1 P.M. in council chambers.