Mayor Byron Brown: His First 100 Days
by Caroline Phelan
Byron Brown marked his first 100 days in office with an in-studio speech delivered on WNED’s FORUM radio show. It was a curiously closed environment, open to the public but not well advertised—an Allentown businessman who telephoned WNED to inquire about tickets was told he was one of only a handful of people who had called. In any case, Artvoice saw fit to ask a handful of Buffalonians of our own selection what they thought of the mayor’s first 100 days. Is Byron Brown the breath of fresh air this city hopes he will be or is he business as usual? Is it possible to tell just yet?
Name: James Spence
Occupation: Just Pizza
Residence: South Buffalo
What do you think of the mayor’s first 100 days in office? I’d say he has done more improvements in the East Side and in his office than anything else throughout the city. Maybe he should look into other urban areas and try to improve that too instead of just fixing one part of the city and not the rest.
Can you name one or two things Brown has done since January that you either approve or disapprove of? The one good thing is that he would like to open the Waterfront. Other than that, trying to improve Buffalo, he’s one step towards that, considering he’s leaving other parts of the city to be demolished.
He is giving his 100 days address on WNED’s FORUM program. Do you think he should speak in a more public venue? Yeah. He should speak to everybody in the city and give them all a fair chance. He can come right to our work sites and to our neighborhoods and knock on our doors and asks us what we want around our areas.
Name: John Darowz
Occupation: Owner of Excel Produce
Residence: Tonawanda
What do you think of the mayor’s first 100 days in office? It’s been very interesting. It seems to be very low-key at the moment. You hear that he’s working very hard to put things together and as time goes on maybe these things will be very positive, which is what the city has needed for so many years.
Can you name one or two things Brown has done since January that you either approve or disapprove of? I can’t really say I disapprove of anything that he’s done, because everything seems to be in a planning mode. In working with re-doing the Waterfront, he seems to be listening to all the ideas and bringing them together.
He is giving his 100 days address on WNED’s FORUM program. Do you think he should speak in a more public venue? Yeah, definitely. Because then he’d become the people’s mayor, instead of hiding behind the news media, and be out in the public more.
Name: Joe Lolla Jr.
Occupation: Store coordinator
Residence: Buffalo
What do you think of the mayor’s first 100 days in office? I think he’s conservatively in the middle and trying to appease everyone and trying to make decisons that won’t be upsetting the early days of his administration. Right now I don’t think he’s forcibly making changes as he promised, and he’s playing it safe.
Can you name one or two things Brown has done since January that you either approve or disapprove of? I don’t see any substantial change or direction either way. I think that it’s too early to tell. He has had a few controversial issues like the casino and the police and dealing with the unions, but I don’t see any dramatic changes or anything forward.
He is giving his 100 days address on WNED’s FORUM program. Do you think he should speak in a more public venue? I think WNED is pretty effective as a public venue, but I think to present his case clearly that a town meeting would be helpful to hear his point of view.
Name: John Shepard
Occupation: Owner of Antique Man
Residence: Buffalo
What do you think of the mayor’s first 100 days in office? He hasn’t done anything obviously bad, but he hasn’t done anything obviously good either. Particularly he hasn’t come out and said anything against the casino or the Bass Pro project, which are both ridiculous ideas in my opinion.
Can you name one or two things Brown has done since January that you either approve or disapprove of? No. I think he’s been afraid to stir up feathers. The people that helped get him elected seem to be controlling him in one way or another.
He is giving his 100 days address on WNED’s FORUM program. Do you think he should speak in a more public venue? Yes. I don’t understand why the mayor can’t speak to the city of Buffalo every month on public television.
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