In some of Buffalo’s East and West Side neighborhoods, children who wake up in the morning eager to get outside and enjoy the summer sun are greeted instead by rat-infested, condemned houses. PUSH Buffalo (People United for Sustainable Housing) estimates that the State of New York is responsible for 1,499 neglected and abandoned properties in the city. On July 12, PUSH opened a new front in their campaign to shame Governor George Pataki into forcing the state agency that owns these derelict properties to take responsibility for them.

In the aftermath of the county budget crisis of 2004, Erie County residents began to search for answers. How could this happen, who screwed up? When anything fails, from a business to a sports team to a government, it is human nature to look for a scapegoat. Joel Giambra became the Scott Norwood of county government, shouldering the blame for a government that fell short in its most important responsibility—the public’s money. A review commission was established in April of 2005 to look into ways to change the county charter (county constitution). Over a year later, the changes proposed by this commission all seem to lead back to the same question: Is it the system of government that failed, or have the elected officials functioning within the system failed?