Residents Oppose Referendum for Mayoral Appointments To School Board
Eric Ortner
North Buffalo Rocket / West Side TimesOn Thursday, March 16, 2000 at 6 p.m. a public hearing on the resolution to allow the Mayor's office to have two appointments to the school board was heard. The hearing was held in Council Chambers at City Hall. The hearing was in regard to a resolution filed on February 22 by Councilmember-at-large Charles H. Fisher III.
The evening started off with a rally on the steps of City Hall led by Jim Anderson and school board member-at-large Darius Pridgen. The large group of young and old alike then filed inside Council Chambers to voice their views of the resolution. These opinions were overwhelmingly opposed to the possible appointments.
Before members of the public took the stand to voice their opinions, a few local officials explained their views on the matter. Assemblymember Sam Hoyt, who has sponsored the legislation at the state level said, "When Mayor Masiello asked me to introduce legislation for the Mayor of Buffalo to appoint two members to the school board, I said, 'Mayor, I think this is a good idea.'" Mr. Hoyt's reasoning was that the Mayor of New York City, Rudolph Giulliani is proposing that the entirety of the school board in that city be appointed by the mayor's office. Other cities across the country including Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago already have such a system in place. Moreover, Hoyt believed that the Buffalo School board is currently overshadowed by recent financial mismanagement, and these mayoral appointments would create more fiscal accountability to the City of Buffalo.
These views were echoed by, special assistant to the mayor, Peter Savage, and David Rodriguez, a member of the Steering Committee for the Hispanic Coalition of Western New York.However, Council President James Pitts gave a rousing speech bringing much agreement and applause from the audience. He said, "I think there are too many people who have fought too hard for the right to vote." He concluded, "If people are upset with what the elected school board does, VOTE THEM OUT!" The noisy affirmative response to James Pitts' comments was deafening.
Not every public official received such great praise though, Charley Fisher III got an ear full. Jim Anderson said, "Charley, I'm really disappointed in you!" He continued "Every year, the people say what they want. If you really believed in the people, what would have happened is you would have called a community meeting." Mr. Anderson concluded, "Can we trust you to come and talk to us first? I feel you've been duped."
Rev. Darius G. Pridgen stood up for Fisher saying, "I don't want others who are pushing this to divide us. Thank God for Charley Fisher!" He concluded, "We are here today because of the fact, that it is a fact that the school board has problems. But it is also a fact that the Common Council has problems too."
Councilmember Fisher wasn't the only person to receive the cold shoulder from this vocal group of opposition. Sam Hoyt received his fair share of outrage. Upon talking to him after the meeting, Mr. Hoyt seemed generally surprised over the opposition, but did not take it personally. Sam did have some warning on the matter. On Saturday, March 11, he presided over a very poorly attended Town Meeting at Buffalo State College. North District Buffalo Board of Education member Deborah Edds Bang was one of 6 people that decided to attend. She expressed her discontent with Mr. Hoyt's stance on the issue.
Although it was great to see people stand up for their rights as voters, the entire hearing was really for naught. Jeremy Toth, Charley H. Fisher's staff informed that the Common Council had in fact already decided against the referendum prior to the hearing. However, the hearing was scheduled, so it had to go forward.
