The Buffalo News, March 19, 2009, Thursday

The Buffalo News

March 19, 2009, Thursday

The Buffalo News

Activists criticize city's lack of plan to fight poverty

Say Buffalo needs coordinated approach

By Mark Sommer


- It’s been more than three years since Byron W. Brown became mayor.

More than 1 1/2 years since Buffalo was named the second poorest city in the nation.

And a year since the mayor hired someone whose biggest priority was to fight poverty.

And yet, City Hall still doesn’t have an anti-poverty plan.

The lack of urgency has some people involved with poverty issues concerned.

“Poverty can’t be solved by charities,” said William O’Connell, executive director of Homeless Alliance for Western New York. “We need planning and strategic action, which has to come from our elected officials. We’re a community that comes together for so many things, but we haven’t had that call to action around poverty,” O’Connell said.

O’Connell is one of several people who say the Brown administration could be doing more to combat poverty.

Lou Jean Fleron, chairwoman of Buffalo’s Living Wage Commission, said a plan is needed that tackles the underlying problems of poverty. Having one, she said, also could help the city take advantage of stimulus funds designated for alleviating poverty, inequality and joblessness.

“It’s really, really urgent, and I don’t think we’re ready,” said Fleron, who also works on economic development for Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations. “There is a small window of time, and we would be best positioned as a city if a comprehensive plan were in place.”

In January, in his third State of the City address, Brown said that Buffalo’s “renaissance is in full swing.” An anti-poverty program, he announced, would be unveiled in February.

During that speech, Brown touted a drop in violent crime, highlighted economic development projects under way and pointed to a stepped-up effort to demolish blighted buildings.

Deputy Mayor Donna Brown told The Buffalo News last September that although developing an anti-poverty plan was supposed to be a priority, expanded responsibilities had left her little time in her first six months to focus on the issue. She said at the time a plan would be ready by January.

On Monday, Brown left a phone message saying she was “hoping” a plan could be out “within the next two weeks or so.”

A draft version has circulated among some organizations.

The delay has frustrated Michelle Johnson, a Housing Court liaison and co-founder of Broadway Fillmore Alive.

“When is poverty going to be taken seriously? Drive around the neighborhoods, especially the East Side, and tell me we don’t have this huge poverty issue that is being ignored. There is no plan, and we desperately need one,” Johnson said.

Helene Kramer, executive director of Read to Succeed Buffalo, said she was sympathetic to the difficulty of putting together a plan, given the “complex issue.” She said she eagerly awaits the direction the Brown administration will provide.

“There needs to be a big vision, and we’re anxiously awaiting the report so we can determine how to get behind it,” Kramer said.

VOICE Buffalo, which consists of 18 church congregations across Buffalo and the suburbs, has had some success in working with the Brown administration on anti-poverty issues, including neighborhood revitalization in the Woodlawn-Ferry area.

But Ava White, VOICE Buffalo’s president, said more needs to happen across the city.

“In general, there is more work that needs to be done around an aggressive strategy to work on the issues that get at the root of poverty,” White said.

Allison Duwe, executive director for the Partnership for the Public Good, which includes 40 organizations, said the clock is ticking.

“Many of our coalition members are ready and willing to be a part of the planning, part of the solution,” Duwe said.

msommer@buffnews.com