Selling Short

A resolution to change Buffalo Common Council term lengths from four to two years was knocked down with a 5-4 vote Tuesday after heated debate among councilmembers. North District Councilmember Joe Golombek said he drafted the resolution because he believes shorter terms would promote “fresh ideas and fresh enthusiasm” on the Council. He said shorter terms also would allow voters to be more active in choosing their representation. “Four-year terms have made it easier [for the Council] to be divisive, taking accountability away from the voters,” he said on Tuesday. “More democracy is good.”

Golombek said that he submitted the resolution urging the Council to shorten its members’ term lengths because the idea periodically comes up among his constituents. He was able to garner support from Ellicott District Councilmember Brian Davis, Masten District Councilmember Demone Smith, and University District Councilmember Bonnie Russell.

But Golombek immediately ran up against opposition from the remaining five members, who didn’t even want to open the topic up for public discussion. Their opposition didn’t seem to be a question of the resolution’s subject matter, but its context. Council President and Fillmore District Councilmember David Franczyk said that without a larger conversation on Council reform, it was a “non sequitur” and “came out of left field.”

Niagara District Councilmember David Rivera theorized that Golombek had filed a resolution he knew wouldn’t pass for the sake of a publicity boost, which he called “frivolous.” Still, Golombek insisted that this is a crucial subject in terms of Council accountability. He acknowledged that this is “not a glamorous issue,” but he asserts it’s still a key one. He says he’s dedicated to long-term Council reform and has previously been in support of a part-time Council.

Rivera evaded the question of whether he would be open to having the two- versus four-year debate, but remains adamant that Golombek was just using the issue for a quick sound bite.

Councilmembers served two-year terms until 1999, when the city charter was reformed and they were lengthened to four years, which Golombek opposed at the time.

Franczyk ran every two years for eight consecutive years—16 years in total—before the law was changed in 1999. He feels that two-year terms means having to campaign more often and raise money to finance those campaigns. He says when candidates focus on fundraising and campaigning, they risk losing sight of the responsibilities of their day job. “The element of money compromises democracy,” Franczyk says. Lovejoy Councilmember Richard Fontana agrees, saying, “It’s for the public good, but don’t forget it costs money.”

The issue of shorter terms may be at rest for the moment, but some councilmembers indicated a willingness to discuss it as part of a larger Council reform conversation. As Rivera says: “Let’s talk about reform, but not just for a sound bite or newspaper clipping.”

—ellen przepasniak