BUFFALO, N.Y. — Tom Perez has had a lot of titles in his career. He's currently a Senior Advisor to President Biden, and the Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House.
Perez is also the former U.S. Labor Secretary, and the former chair of the Democratic National Committee.
Perez is also a Buffalo native.
"my first job when I was 16 years old, I worked on Jefferson Avenue, Jefferson Street, I should say, at Sears, Main and Jefferson," Perez said. "I had a lot of hair back then."
Perez toured various infrastructure projects, and the 5/14 memorial at Tops, with Mayor Byron Brown.
The pair toured the return of cars to Main St. in downtown Buffalo, the Kensington Expressway, the 5/14 memorial and held a roundtable discussion at the Exchange at the Beverly Gray Center.
Regarding the $1B Kensington Expressway project, Perez doubled-down on pushing forward with the project, despite a significant opposition movement for the project.
"The reviews have been done, and they have been comprehensive," Perez said. "And I would argue that they've been very, very inclusive."
Several members of the East Side Parkways Coalition protested outside the Beverly Gray Center where the invite-only roundtable discussion was held.
"I really think this is a project that we will look back on and look back on with pride," Perez said. "Reconnecting communities is about reconnecting opportunity."
During a roundtable discussion Perez provided further commitment to the $1B project.
"This project will be completed,' Perez said.
While at the Tops location on Jefferson Ave., Perez highlighted that the country still has not done enough to combat gun violence in the aftermath of the racially motivated shooting in May 2022.
"We need to be much more aggressive in what we do," Perez said. "But we don't have enough dance partners in the U.S. Congress at the moment to attempt to attack these issues."
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