Appendix E
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Current City Charter
Changes in the Situation of City Government
Essential Qualities of City Government
Summary of Reforms
1.
Strategic Planning
2.
Department of Human Resources
3.
Commission on Citizen Rights and Community Relations
4.
Department of Permit and Inspection Services
5.
Consolidation of Departments of Public Works, Parks, and
Street Sanitation and Creation of Department
of Human Services
6.
Transfer and Consolidation of Management of Real Property
7.
Elimination of Department of Community Development
8.
Purchasing
9.
Telecommunications and Utility Relations
10.
Department of Management Information Services
11.
Transfer of Collections Function to Department of Administration
and Finance
12.
Accreditation of the Police Department
13.
Budgeting
14.
Capital Budgeting
15.
Citizen Service Referral System
16.
Director of Inter-Governmental Relations
17.
Boards and Commissions
18.
Mayoral Succession
19.
Residency Requirement for City Employees
20.
Qualifications of City Officers
21.
Pay Raises for Elected Officials
22.
Restriction of Political Solicitation
23.
Performance Auditing
24.
Auditing of Local Development Companies
25.
External Review of Department of Audit and Control
26.
Public Notice and Hearings on
Proposed Local Laws and Ordinances
27.
Publication of Actions of City Government
28.
Council Staff
29.
Terms of District Council Members
30.
CitizensAdvisory Commission on Reapportionment and
Structure of the Council
Other Recommendations
1.
Central Police Booking
2.
Reorganization of Buffalo Development Companies
3.
Residency of City Employees
4.
Labor Relations
Fiscal Impact
The Charter Revision Process
Conclusion & Appendix - Organization
Charts of City Government To the Citizens of the City of
Buffalo:
We are pleased to submit for your approval
a new charter for our city. On Election Day, November
2, 1999, you will have an opportunity to adopt or reject
the new charter. While maintaining the basic Council-Mayor-Comptroller
structure established by the current charter in 1927, and
retaining much of the language of the current charter, the
new charter is designed to strengthen accountability, maintain
fiscal responsibility, and improve the effectiveness of
city government. It does so both by reforming the
internal organization and procedures of the city government
and by facilitating cooperation with the other governmental
entities serving the city and the region. The new
charter also eliminates obsolete provisions of the current
charter, conforms other provisions to controlling state
law, and organizes its provisions more clearly.
The Current City Charter
The charter is the "constitution"
of the City of Buffalo. The original City Charter
was enacted by the State Legislature in 1832 to convert
Buffalo from a village to a city. After 1832 the State
Legislature revised the charter many times to add to the
city's territory, expand or limit its powers, and alter
its form of government. The present charter was adopted
by the voters at referendum in 1927 to establish the present
Mayor-Council-Comptroller form of City government:
The Council makes policy by enacting
laws, adopting the budget and authorizing expenditures of
city funds, and levying taxes.
The Mayor is directly elected by the
voters to head an independent Executive Branch, with responsibility
for the administration of city government.
The Comptroller, also independently elected,
serves as the city's chief fiscal, accounting and auditing
officer.
The 1927 charter also provides many of
the details of city government, including, for example,
the boundaries of Council Districts, the structure and functions
of the various departments, and the procedures for making
laws, levying taxes, adopting the budget, entering into
contracts, and acquiring and disposing of property.
The charter has been amended many times since then, but
always within the basic Council-Mayor-Comptroller structure
established in 1927.
Changes in the Situation of City Government
Since 1927, the conditions under which
city government operates have changed radically. The
relative position of the state, Western New York and
the city in the national economy has declined and continues
to decline. The decline of the city in the regional
economy has been especially severe. The city no longer
accounts for most of the industry, commerce and population
of Erie County. Its infrastructure and buildings are
old and in large part obsolescent and deteriorating.
Its population includes a disproportionate concentration
of the poorest people of the region. The city's tax
base has eroded while its needs for public investment and
services have grown.
The federal government has contributed
to the economic decline of older cities by subsidizing economic
and urban development in suburbia and the Sun Belt.
It has at the same time responded to the plight of the cities
and to broader problems of poverty by creating an array
of social welfare and urban development programs, some of
which provide funding directly to city governments.
The city currently receives approximately $22 million a
year in Community Development Block Grant funds. To
administer federally funded urban development programs,
the city has created the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency and
three not-for-profit corporations known as the Buffalo Development
Companies (Buffalo Economic Renaissance Corporation, Buffalo
Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation, Downtown Development,
Inc.).
The state government has contributed
to the decline of its cities by making it difficult if not
impossible to expand their boundaries, by imposing crippling
mandates and restrictions on city government, and by creating
a high-tax, high-cost environment for business. It
has at the same time responded to the decline of Buffalo
and other cities by assuming an increasing share of the
costs of local government, by shifting functions from cities
to counties and public authorities, by empowering local
governments to impose sales taxes, by authorizing transfers
of functions between the county and the city, town and village
governments, by broadening the powers of county government,
and by empowering local governments to cooperate in the
performance of their functions. In Buffalo and Erie
County, the social welfare, public health, public hospital
and a large part of the public library functions were shifted
from the city to the county government in the 1940's and
early 1950's. Local public authorities created by
the state to perform governmental functions at the city
or regional level include the Peace Bridge Commission, the
Buffalo Sewer and Municipal Housing Authorities, the Niagara
Frontier Transportation Authority, the Erie County Industrial
Development Agency, and the Western Region Off-Track Betting
Authority. State financial assistance now accounts
for more than one-half of the revenues of the city, including
the Board of Education, and more than one-third, excluding
the Board.
The county has also assumed major responsibility
for the financial support of cultural institutions, sports
stadiums, and other regional facilities formerly supported
mainly by the city (e.g., the Zoo, Botanical Gardens, Art
Gallery, Philharmonic, Historical Society, football stadium,
hockey arena, and convention center). The sales tax
agreement between the county and the city allots the city
a larger share of the county sales tax than the towns and
villages, when measured on the basis of relative population
and retail sales. In our view, however, a substantially
greater share would be justified on the basis of the city's
disproportionate concentration of regional services and
poverty.
During the last three decades, the city
government has coped with fiscal adversity by drastic downsizing
and conservative fiscal management. In 1972, when
the city's population was about 440,000, the city government
(not counting the Board of Education) had 6,665 employees;
in 1998, with a population of about 300,000, it had 3,141
employees. In 1972, the real property tax levy was
3.9% of the full value of taxable real estate; in 1998 it
was 2.1%. In 1972, the City had an accumulated operating
deficit (including budget notes) of $3 million; in
1998, it had a positive fund balance of about $3 million
(without counting amounts designated for specific purposes
in the following year or so). In 1972, the City had
encumbered about 75% of its state constitutional debt limit
(2% of full value); in 1998, this had been reduced to less
than 33%. In Rochester, per capita expenditures of
city government (exclusive of education) were more than
35% greater than in Buffalo in 1997, the most recent year
reported by the State Comptroller; in Syracuse per capita
expenditures were more than 10% greater.
While this combination of federal, state
and local action has enabled the city to survive as a viable
municipal corporation, it has not been sufficient to eliminate
continuing fiscal, economic and social stress. Despite
one of the most successful school desegregation programs
in the country, significant minority participation in the
police and fire departments, and strong African American
representation in the Common Council, racial and ethnic
disparities and tensions remain high. Despite an extraordinary
architectural heritage and substantial investment in waterfront
residential development, downtown recreational facilities,
neighborhood housing and economic development projects,
the city continues to lose people, jobs and tax base, much
of its former industrial land is contaminated, and many
of its neighborhoods remain under severe stress. The
city has outstanding cultural institutions, but these too
must struggle for adequate financial support. Local
government is fragmented, not only in the metropolitan region,
but among the several governmental entities serving the
city itself. The city government is fiscally dependent
on state assistance formulas that change every year.
It is hemmed in by state restrictions and mandates, and
it has lost important management prerogatives in its collective
bargaining agreements. The city remains a community
of great character, but it must struggle to maintain and
improve its economic, fiscal and social well-being.
Essential Qualities of City Government
Our city government should be designed
to meet these critical challenges:
to build a sense of community across
racial, ethnic and neighborhood lines;
to deliver essential services efficiently
and effectively, and, to that end, to improve management
techniques, employment relations and inter-governmental
cooperation;
to maintain fiscal stability under the
continuing stress of a revenue base (its own tax base and
the support it receives from the federal, state and county
tax bases) inadequate to its needs;
to protect and enhance the natural and
urban environment, including historic neighborhoods and
landmarks;
to preserve and rebuild aging and distressed
neighborhoods;
to encourage investment in the city as
a regional center, utilizing all available federal, state
and county resources; and
to cooperate with other governmental
entities, both within the city and in the larger region,
in the planning and execution of capital investments and
public services.
To meet these challenges, city government
must possess three qualities. It must be open, balanced
and responsive to all the people and needs of the city,
with both strong neighborhood representation and a strong
city-wide perspective that transcends racial, ethnic and
neighborhood lines. It must be organized to perform
essential planning, development, and service delivery functions
effectively and efficiently. And it must be accountable
to its citizens.
The new charter is designed to maintain
and strengthen those qualities in city government.
It maintains the Common Council in the Council's present
form, with nine District Members and a Council President
and three Members elected at-large. A majority of
the Commission believes that the District Members have provided
generally strong representation of the neighborhoods and
effective assistance to individual citizens in their relations
with city government; that the Council President and Members-at-Large
have provided both a citywide perspective and alternative
representation of community interests when District Members
or the Mayor have been unresponsive; and that the combination
of district and at-large representation has fostered representation
of diverse political interests and an openness to political
independents. A substantial minority of the Commission
does not necessarily agree with those conclusions.
While retaining the Council in its present form, the new
charter also provides a procedure for reexamination of its
size and composition in conjunction with the reapportionment
plan that will be required after the federal census next
year. Any change that may be proposed can then be
assessed in terms of its effect on community representation.
The new charter enhances fiscal responsibility
by providing for systematic budget monitoring, a more disciplined
capital budgeting procedure, consolidation of several departments,
and broader auditing powers for the Comptroller. It
seeks to improve the effectiveness and accountability of
government by several means: (1) a strategic planning
process with systematic articulation of objectives and assessment
of performance; (2) performance review of departments
and employees; (3) reorganization of crucial functions
such as human resources, building permits, management information
systems, and response to citizenscomplaints; and (4) strengthened
oversight by the Comptroller and by independent citizen
boards. The new charter facilitates intergovernmental
cooperation by bringing the Board of Education, Sewer and
Municipal Housing Authorities, Urban Renewal Agency and
Development Companies into the strategic planning process,
encouraging cooperative purchasing of goods, services and
energy, and charging the Mayor's office with responsibility
for systematic pursuit of opportunities for intergovernmental
cooperation.
Organization charts showing the framework
of city government under the new charter as compared with
the current charter are appended to this report.
Summary of Reforms
The principal reforms in the new charter
are:
1.Strategic planning. The
revised charter establishes a framework for strategic planning
designed both to integrate planning of the city government's
own principal functions, and to coordinate planning by the
city government and related public entities. The new
planning process includes a rolling, annually-revised four-year
strategic plan, annual reports and evaluations, leadership
by a high-level Coordinator of Strategic Planning, and a
Citizens Planning Council. Within city government,
the process will articulate objectives and lay out programs
of action to achieve those objectives in relation to environmental
quality, civic design, land use, economic development, intergovernmental
relations, fiscal policy, capital investment, community
relations, and public services. The related entities
encouraged to participate in the process include:
The Board of Education, which will be
represented on the citizen planning council
The Buffalo Sewer Authority, Municipal
Housing Authority and Urban Renewal Agency (all or a majority
of whose governing boards are appointed by the Mayor)
The city's local development companies
(Buffalo Economic Renaissance Corporation, Buffalo Neighborhood
Revitalization Corporation, Downtown Development, Inc.),
which receive their funding through the city government.
Although those entities are governed
by their own boards, whose powers cannot be restricted by
the city charter, it is entirely reasonable to request them
to cooperate in a formal common planning process that does
not purport to restrict their ultimate decision-making authority.
To lead the strategic planning process,
the revised charter creates the Office of Strategic Planning
in the Executive Department. The Office is headed
by the Coordinator of Strategic Planning. The existing
Division of Planning and Office of Environment are transferred
to the new Office of Strategic Planning. The Planning
Board, Environmental Management Commission, and Historic
Preservation Board remain as independent citizen boards
but are brought within the strategic planning process by
means of referrals, reports and recommendations. A
newly created Citizens Planning Council will advise on the
capital budget and program, assess progress in achieving
planning objectives, and evaluate the performance of each
department in meeting its annual objectives. (For
the provisions relating to strategic planning, see Sections 63-65,
18-23 through 18-29 and 19-1 through 19-6 of the new Charter.
2. Department of Human Resources. The
city's civil service, personnel, affirmative action and
labor relations functions are now scattered among the local
Civil Service Commission, the Department of Administration
and Finance, and the Department of Parks, Recreation and
Human Services. The City has no system for the orientation,
training, and evaluation of its employees. The revised
charter creates a Department of Human Resources to consolidate
and perform those functions. The Civil Service Commission
is eliminated and, pursuant to an option provided by state
law, its functions are transferred to the Commissioner of
Human Resources, appointed by the Mayor with the approval
of the Council for a six-year term. A new, unpaid
Appeals Board will provide for independent review and recommendations
to the Commissioner on appeals from administrative decisions
involving the application of the Civil Service Law.
The Commissioner of Human Resources will develop training
programs and a system for annual performance review of all
employees, to be implemented immediately for non-union employees
and as may be consistent with collective bargaining obligations
for union employees. (See Sections 11-1 through
11-15 of the new Charter.)
3.Commission on Citizen Rights and Community
Relations. The present
Commission on Human Relations is replaced by a new Commission
on Citizen Rights and Community Relations. The new
commission will be made up of 11 members appointed by the
Mayor, subject to confirmation by the Council after consultation
with leading civic and community organizations. Members
will be recognized community leaders, selected for diversity
and demonstrated commitment to social justice. At
least one member must have experience in law enforcement.
The revised charter declares it to be
a fundamental purpose of the City of Buffalo to eliminate
group prejudice, intolerance, bigotry and discrimination
in the city, and to assure respect for the civil liberties
of all citizens. The duties of the commission are:
a)
in cooperation with civic, community and civil rights organizations,
to develop programs to improve relations among the city's
racial and ethnic communities and to build an inclusive
sense of community throughout the city;
b)
to investigate and recommend action in response to incidents,
patterns and causes of discrimination on grounds of race,
religion, ethnicity, gender, age, disability or sexual orientation;
c)
to examine, assess and recommend action with respect to
issues of equal opportunity and respect for cultural diversity
within city government and in its services and programs;
d)
to monitor, report on and recommend action with respect
to the Police Department's (a) initial and continuing training
programs in community relations and respect for citizens'
rights and (b) standards and procedures for investigating
and acting upon complaints of police misconduct.
e)
to receive complaints of police misconduct and to assist
citizens in pursuing such complaints.
f)
to submit at least twice each year, and as requested by
the Mayor or Common Council, a report on: (i) its
activities, (ii) the state of community relations in the
city, (iii) the state of equal opportunity and respect for
cultural diversity within city government and in its services
and programs, (iv) the state of the Police Department's
initial and ongoing training programs in community relations
and respect for citizen rights and the Department's standards
and procedures for investigating and acting upon complaints
of police misconduct, and (v) significant issues that have
arisen regarding these matters.
One of the reasons the present Commission
on Human Relations has not been more effective is that it
has lacked staff and budgetary support. The new commission
is empowered (and assured of sufficient appropriations)
to appoint a full-time Executive Director, field representative
and secretary, and to request the cooperation of other agencies
of city government. Like the present Commission on
Human Relations, it will have subpoena power. (See
Sections 18-20 through 18-22 of the new Charter.)
4. Department of Permit and Inspection
Services. Responsibility for
permits for construction and rehabilitation of buildings
is now divided between the Department of Public Works, which
reviews plans for compliance with building code and other
regulations, and the Department of Community Development,
which conducts building inspections, as well as housing
code and miscellaneous other inspections. This division
of responsibility has led to confusion and delay in the
permit process, which is seen by both business and not-for-profit
organizations as difficult, time consuming, and discouraging
to projects necessary for the redevelopment of the city.
The revised charter consolidates plan review, inspection
and permit functions in a new department headed by a commissioner
whose sole responsibility is to develop and administer a
speedy, efficient, and reliable system. (See Sections 17-1
through 17-10 of the new Charter.)
5.Consolidation of Departments of Public
Works, Parks, and Street Sanitation and Creation of Department
of Human Services. The Departments
of Public Works, Parks and Street Sanitation employ supervisors,
laborers and equipment that should be and to some extent
are now deployed across departmental lines. To facilitate
the most efficient use of those resources, the new charter
consolidates the three departments into one. The human
service functions now lodged in the Department of Human
Services, Parks and Recreation (senior services, youth services
and substance abuse services) are assigned to a new Department
of Community Services. (See Sections 15-1 through
15-51 of the new Charter.)
6.Transfer And Consolidation Of Management
Of Real Property.
Responsibility for the management and
disposition of real property owned but not used by city
government is now split between two departments. Responsibility
for property acquired through tax foreclosure is assigned
to the Department of Community Development; responsibility
for other property is assigned to the Department of Audit
and Control. A major part of the responsibility is
to coordinate the demolition of abandoned and unsafe buildings
by the Department of Public Works, Parks and Streets and
the Buffalo Development Companies. In view of their
close relation to housing code enforcement, the new charter
consolidates those functions in the new Department of Permit
and Inspection Services. The consolidation will both
increase efficiency and eliminate the anomaly of the Comptroller
auditing his or her own performance of an executive function.
The procedure for sale of abandoned property has been modified
to eliminate the costly requirement of appointment of an
appraiser by the Supreme Court. (See Sections 17-9
through 17-10 and 24-4 through 27-5 of the new Charter.)
7.Elimination of Department of Community
Development. As already noted
the permit and inspection functions of the present Department
of Community Development are transferred to the new Department
of Permit and Inspection Services, and its planning and
real estate management functions are transferred to the
Executive Department. The remaining functions of the
Department, relating to citizen participation and liaison
with neighborhood organizations, are also transferred to
the new Division of Citizen Services in the Mayor's office.
(See Sections 6-6 through 6-14, 6-19 through 6-21 and
17-1 through 17-10 of the new Charter.)
8.Purchasing. Purchasing
and inventory management are now performed by the Department
of General Services. The revised charter eliminates
that department and transfers its functions to the Department
of Administration and Finance, under the supervision of
the Director of Purchase. The city government, Board
of Education, Buffalo Sewer Authority and Buffalo Municipal
Housing Authority now maintain separate purchasing offices,
each purchasing its own supplies, materials, fuels and services.
The city and those related entities have the potential,
through cooperative purchasing, to realize significant savings
in administrative costs and, more important, in volume discounts
and pricing opportunities. The charter cannot mandate,
but it can encourage, the cooperation of the related entities.
To do so, the revised charter creates an unpaid Procurement
Policy Advisory Board. The Board will strengthen the
city's purchasing function by contributing private sector
expertise, independent monitoring to restrain circumvention
of policies and standards, and a forum for the development
of cooperative purchasing policies. To encourage their
participation, the Board of Education, Sewer Authority and
Housing Authority are empowered to appoint members of the
Board (though they cannot be mandated by the charter to
do so). (See Sections 10-25 through 10-38 of
the new Charter.)
9.Telecommunications and Utility Relations.
The city government deals with telecommunication
and utility companies in several capacities: it grants
them franchises to install lines and facilities in city
streets and properties; it regulates them; it taxes them;
and it purchases energy and services from them. The
revised charter transfers the present Office of Telecommunications
from the City Clerk's office to the Department of Public
Works, where it will become the Division of Telecommunications,
Utilities and Franchises, with responsibility for advising
and representing the city across the full range of telecommunication,
utility and franchise relations. An unpaid advisory
board will contribute private sector expertise. The
director and the advisory board will be responsible for
identifying and pursuing opportunities to increase franchise
revenues and to reduce costs to the city and its residents
for telecommunication service, natural gas and electricity.
An important potential opportunity is for the city, either
alone or in cooperation with other local governments and
school districts, to form an agency to purchase gas or electricity
at volume discounts on behalf of city residents as well
as the city governments themselves. (See Sections 15-19
through 15-23 of the new Charter.)
10.
Department of Management Information Services. Although
the current charter charges the Department of Administration
and Finance with responsibility for the development and
operation of a management information system, this function
has in fact evolved in the Department of Audit and Control,
headed by the Comptroller. Since electronic data processing
has become essential to the efficient management of virtually
the full range of Executive Branch operations, the revised
charter transfers the data processing unit in the Department
of Audit and Control to a new Department of Management Information
Services in the Executive Branch. To assure that the new
Department will be responsive to all three branches of government,
the Commissioner will be appointed by the Mayor, the Comptroller
and the President of the Council with the approval of the
Council, and the Commissioner will be required to consult
with all users of management information technology. (See
Sections 9-1 through 9-4 of the new Charter.)
11.Transfer of Collections Function to
Depart-
ment of Administration and Finance. The
collection of past due debts owing to the City is now a
function of the Comptroller. Since this is a management
rather than control function, and since continuity of process
will be served by placing it in the same department as the
collection of debts as due, the revised charter transfers
the function to the Division of the Treasury in the Department
of Administration and Finance. The collection of debts
will be subject to audit by the Comptroller, who will no
longer be in the anomalous position of auditing his or her
own performance. (See Sections 10-39 through
10-42 of the new Charter.)
12.Accreditation of the Police Department. The
Police Commissioner is required, as a duty of his or her
office, to seek and maintain accreditation by a program
such as the New York State Law Enforcement Accreditation
Program. The program provides peer review, evaluation
and recommendations as to the policies and operations of
participating police departments. It is directed by
a council consisting principally of state and local law
enforcement leaders, and supported by the State Division
of Criminal Justice Services. (See Section 13-18
of the new Charter.)
13.Budgeting. The
Comptroller and Budget Director now submit to the Council
quarterly reports showing actual versus budgeted revenues
and expenditures and projecting year end results.
The revised charter institutionalizes and builds upon this
practice. It requires the Budget Director to prepare
and the Comptroller to review quarterly reports setting
forth this information and also projecting the effect of
current trends and new developments on revenues and expenditures
for the following year. This will serve as an early
warning system, enabling the citizens and their elected
officials to consider promptly the need to bring recurring
expenditures into line with recurring revenues, and it will
provide a baseline for identifying and assessing any
overly optimistic estimates or bookkeeping practices that
might be proposed to balance the following year's budget.
(See Sections 20-7 and 20-17 of the new Charter.)
The new charter also provides for a more
informative presentation of the budget, setting forth, in
addition to traditional line appropriation and revenue items,
a summary for each program showing: the administrative
structure of the program; the objectives of the program,
with measured performance levels when feasible; the expenditures
required to accomplish those objectives; the revenues (if
any) generated by the program; and the net cost of the program
to the city. (See Section 20-3 of the new Charter.)
14.Capital Budgeting. The
new charter establishes more disciplined procedures for
management of the city's capital assets (parks, streets,
buildings, equipment, vehicles, etc.) and for planning and
authorizing capital projects. The Comptroller is required
to submit at the outset of the capital budgeting process
an estimate of the amount of new debt the City can
prudently incur during the next year and the following four
years. Capital programming and budgeting are integrated
into the new strategic planning process, and the Citizens
Planning Council is required to review proposed capital
projects and recommend a capital budget and four-year program
of capital investments. Projects may be recommended
by individual members of the Common Council in initial preparation
of the capital budget and four-year program, and the Common
Council is empowered to review and amend the four-year capital
program submitted by the Mayor. These measures, together
with Common Council representation on the Citizens Planning
Council, will encourage the Common Council to participate
in the planning of the capital budget rather than simply
to add on projects after the planning process has been completed.
The Mayor is required to issue systematic reports on the
management of the city's capital assets and on capital investment
proposals and decisions. The capital programming and
budgeting process are to be completed by November 30 each
year. This will separate the process from the operating
budget cycle, allow more time for deliberation by the Council,
provide more definite information as to debt service requirements
for incorporation in the operating budget, and enable the
city to take full advantage of the next construction season
and favorable market conditions early in the year for issuing
bonds and taking bids on construction contracts. (See
Sections 20-19 through 20-31 of the new Charter.)
15.Citizen Service Referral System.
The revised charter creates an office in the Executive Department
to develop and operate a centralized, computer-based referral
system for citizen complaints and requests for service.
The system is to be capable of (a) providing a written acknowledgment
to the inquiring citizen within three days of receipt of
the inquiry; (b) providing an immediate report of each inquiry
to the appropriate District Council member; (c) referring
each inquiry to the appropriate department or agency; and
(d) preparing a monthly statistical report to the Mayor
and Council of the number, nature and disposition of inquiries
received. The Mayor is directed to conduct an annual
review of the referral system and submit a report and recommendations
to the Council, including a review and analysis of complaints
of a recurring and multi-district or city-wide nature and
the Mayor's recommendations for administrative, legislative
or budgetary actions to resolve underlying problems.
(See Sections 6-18 through 6-21 of the new Charter.)
16.Director of Inter-Governmental Relations.
A new position of Director
of Inter-Governmental Relations is created in the Mayor's
office, with responsibility for identifying and examining
opportunities to reduce costs and improve services through
cooperation with other governmental entities serving the
city and the region, systematically reporting on such opportunities,
pursuing federal, state and private foundation grants, and
representing the Mayor in negotiations with other governments.
(See Sections 6-15 through 6-17 of the new Charter.)
17.Boards and Commissions. The
revised charter eliminates several obsolete boards and commissions
and establishes general standards and procedures for the
many boards and commissions in the city government, requiring
annual reports, an annual organization meeting, bylaws,
regular meetings, and termination of appointment for more
than three unexcused absences. (See Sections 18-1
through 18-9 of the new Charter.)
18.Mayoral Succession. Under
the current charter, the Council President assumes the powers
of Mayor during the temporary absence or disability of the
Mayor. To assure political continuity and accountability,
the new charter authorizes the Mayor to designate a Department
Head or another officer whose appointment has been confirmed
by the Council (except for the Police or Fire Commissioner)
to perform the Mayor's duties in the event the Mayor is
temporarily incapacitated or absent from the State.
The Mayor is required to file a written designation of such
temporary successor with the City Clerk. (See Section 4-4
of the new Charter.)
Under the current charter, in the event
of a vacancy in the office of the Mayor by reason of death,
resignation or permanent disability, the Council is empowered
to appoint any person belonging to the same political party
as the Mayor to serve as Mayor until the next general election.
The revised charter provides that in that event the President
of the Council is to assume the office of Mayor until the
next general election. (See Section 4-5 of the
new Charter.)
19.Residency Requirement for City Employees.
Except for employees exempted by state law from city residency
requirements, the revised Charter establishes a stricter
and more objective requirement that city employees be residents
of the city. (See Sections 24-3 through 24-8
of the new Charter.)
20.Qualifications of City Officers.
The new charter establishes reasonable qualifications of
training and experience for commissioners and deputy commissioners,
in some cases prescribing qualifications for the first time
and in other cases strengthening existing qualifications.
(See Sections 6-4, 6-7, 6-10, 6-12, 6-16, 6-19, 7-11,
7-16, 7-18, 8-3, 9-3, 10-3, 10-6, 10-9, 10-14, 10-25, 10-31,
10-39, 11-3, 11-6, 11-9, 11-11, 12-3, 13-3, 13-6, 13-8,
14-3, 15-3, 15-7, 15-15, 15-19, 15-26, 15-34, 15-37, 16-3,
17-1, 17-3 and 17-9 of the new Charter.)
21.Pay Raises for Elected Officials. The
new charter restores the requirement of an intervening general
election before a pay raise for elected officials (Mayor,
Comptroller and Council President and Members) can take
effect. This requirement cannot be repealed except
upon approval by the voters at referendum. (See Section 18-19
of the new Charter.)
22.Restriction of Political Solicitation. City
officers and employees are restricted from soliciting political
contributions or campaign assistance from subordinate employees
or persons with whom they are conducting official business.
(See Sections 24-22 and 10-38 of the new Charter.)
23.Performance Auditing. The
new charter expressly authorizes the Comptroller to conduct,
not only traditional financial audits, but also audits of
the effectiveness and efficiency of the city's operations.
It requires the Comptroller to engage independent consultants
to conduct performance audits of the Council staff every
two years and at least two activities of the Executive Branch
each year, and it mandates sufficient appropriations for
those purposes. This does not limit the Comptroller's
authority to conduct performance audits with internal staff.
(See Section 7-4 of the new Charter.)
24.Auditing of Local Development Companies.
The new charter
empowers the Comptroller to conduct financial and performance
audits of the Buffalo Development Companies, which were
created by the city to receive and administer federal community
and economic development funds on behalf of the city.
(See Section 7-4 of the new Charter.)
25.External Review of Department of Audit
and Control. The Comptroller
is directed to submit every three years to an external review
pursuant to nationally recognized guidelines, such as those
of the National Association of Local Government Auditors
Association. (See Section 7-10 of the new Charter.)
26.Public Notice and Hearings on Proposed
Local Laws and Ordinances. Under
state law and the current charter, a public hearing on a
proposed local law is required only after the Council has
passed it and the Mayor is considering whether to veto it.
Although public hearings are required for certain zoning
and other ordinances, there is no general requirement of
a public hearing before enactment of an ordinance.
The Council normally refers proposed local laws and ordinances
to its Committee on Legislation, which allows members of
the public to be heard at its meetings. The new charter
codifies this practice and requires public notice and a
public hearing before a Council committee prior to the passage
or any substantial amendment of a proposed local law or
ordinance, except upon a certificate by the Mayor of necessity
for immediate passage and a two-thirds vote of the Council.
(See Sections 3-17 and 3-19 of the new Charter.)
27.Publication of Actions of City Government.
To make city government more
open to the public, the new charter requires it to publish
local laws, ordinances and important budget, planning and
management reports in the City Record and to distribute
summaries to the news media. (See Sections 3-17,
3-19, 19-6, 20-6 and 20-24 of the new Charter.)
28.Council Staff. The
new charter addresses issues relating to the size and accountability
of the Council staff in four ways. First, it empowers
the Mayor, in the proposed budget, to recommend appropriations
for staff and expenses of the Council, in the same manner
as for every department. (The current charter exempts
appropriations for the Council from mayoral recommendations.)
Any Council additions would therefore become subject to
mayoral veto, which the Council could override by a two-thirds
vote. Second, the Comptroller is required to engage
an independent consultant to audit the performance of the
Council staff every two years. Third, the new charter
limits the size of the Council staff to 37 employees until
the year 2006. (There are now 46 authorized and 43
filled positions.) Fourth, the Council is required,
when it adopts its Rules of Procedures after the general
election every two years, to provide for the accountability
and supervision of the staff. (See Sections 3-7,
3-8, 7-4, 20-1 and 20-2 of the new Charter.)
29.Terms of District Council Members.
The new charter extends the term of office
of District Council Members from two to four years.
(See Section 3-5 of the new Charter.)
30.Citizens' Advisory Commission on Reapportionment
and Structure of the Council. To
conform to the constitutional principle of "one person,
one vote," the city is required, after the federal
census every ten years, to reapportion the nine council
districts so as to maintain approximate equality of population
among them. The current charter provides for a Citizens'
Advisory Committee on Reapportionment of eleven members,
one appointed by each District Council Member and two by
the Mayor. The revised charter provides for an Advisory
Commission to be made up of recognized community leaders
representative of the geographic, social and ethnic diversity
of the city. Five members are to be selected by the
Council President with the concurrence of the entire Council
and four by the Mayor, after a public solicitation of nominations
for appointment to the Commission. Public hearings
are required at each stage of the recommendation and enactment
of the reapportionment plan. Criteria and standards
are prescribed to assure a fair representation of the city's
diverse neighborhoods and social, racial and ethnic communities.
The Advisory Commission is empowered
not only to reapportion the existing number of Council
Districts but also to propose at the same time a change
in the composition and size of the Council. In order
to assure that such a change would not impair fair and effective
representation of the diverse neighborhoods and racial and
ethnic communities of the City, the Advisory Commission
will be able to consider and recommend an integrated plan
to restructure the Council in terms both of its size and
composition and of its District boundaries.
The recommendations of the Advisory Commission
could be enacted only by local law passed by a majority
of the Council, or, in the event of a veto by the Mayor,
by a two-thirds vote of the Council. The revised charter
recognizes that as an alternative, the Mayor or the Council
could appoint a charter revision commission in the year
2001 with the power to submit directly to the voters a plan
for the restructuring of the Council and the reapportionment
of the Council Districts. It provides that if a charter
revision commission is created at that time, then an Advisory
Commission will not be appointed unless and until the charter
revision commission has failed to recommend or the voters
have rejected a reapportionment plan. (See Sections 18-10
through 18-18 of the new Charter.)
Other Recommendations
In the course of its consideration of
the operation of city government, the Commission identified
several problems that are closely related to provisions
of the new charter but cannot be resolved by charter revision.
We therefore submit the following recommendations for further
action.
1.Central Police Booking. Under
current practices, females arrested by the Buffalo Police
Department are taken directly to the Erie County Holding
Center for booking and detention, but male prisoners are
first booked and detained at Buffalo Police Headquarters
until arraignment, after which they are transferred to the
Erie County Holding Center, where they are again booked.
Central booking by the Sheriff would save the expense of
the cell block attendants at Buffalo Police Headquarters,
release police officers for other duty, reduce the expense
and risk of unnecessary transportation, and make immediately
available for the prisoners the County's psychiatric evaluation
system, medical attention at the Erie County Holding Center
and ECMC, suicide screening, and alcohol and drug detoxification
services. The Deputies in the Erie County Holding
Center receive extensive basic and advanced in-service training
in the management and care of prisoners, and the Holding
Center is accredited by the New York State Sheriffs' Association
and the New York State Department of Corrections.
The Commission recommends that the Buffalo Police Officers
now assigned to temporary booking, detention and transportation
to City Court for arraignment be assigned to other duty
in the Buffalo Police Department, and not be transferred
to the Sheriff's Department. In addition to
releasing those officers for other duty, central booking
will result in estimated savings in excess of $1 million
a year.
2.Reorganization of Buffalo Development
Companies. The Buffalo Development
Companies (Buffalo Economic Renaissance Corporation, Buffalo
Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation, and Downtown Development,
Inc.) are not-for-profit corporations organized by the city
government to administer programs funded by federal grants
for the benefit of the city. Their officers are appointed
by their Boards of Directors, and their Boards are elected
by their members. A majority of the members of the
corporations are private citizens without any definite term
of membership. Thus the corporations are not legally
controlled by the city government and are not ultimately
accountable to the public through elected officials.
To place them under definitive public control, the corporations
should be reorganized to designate city officers as their
members, authorized to elect an appropriate combination
of public and private sector representatives to the Boards
of Directors, which would in turn appoint the officers of
the corporations.
Under federal regulations, several highly
specific community development block grant activities can
be performed only by a community based organization not
under the control of public officials. We understand
that the Buffalo Development Companies are not engaged in
any of those activities. If necessary, however, another
corporation, not controlled by city officers, could be created
to perform such activities.
3.Residency of City Employees. State
law exempts police officers, fire fighters and street sanitation
workers from city residency requirements. Buffalo
and other city governments have not been successful in persuading
the State Legislature to repeal that exemption. The
Commission strongly recommends repeal.
4.Labor Relations. The
State's Taylor Law is generally unduly disadvantageous to
public employers. Its provision for mandatory arbitration
of collective bargaining disputes with police and fire fighters
have been particularly onerous. The Commission strongly
recommends repeal of mandatory arbitration.
Fiscal Impact
The immediate fiscal impact of the new
charter is slightly favorable. More positions are
eliminated or reduced in rank than added or upgraded in
rank. Most new positions do not require additional
personnel and can be filled by reassignment of an existing
city employee. In most cases the purpose in creating
a new position is not to add an employee but to focus on
a particular office responsibility for the performance of
a crucial function already being performed by city employees.
The immediate net fiscal impact resulting from new positions,
transfers and eliminated positions is estimated at a saving
in the range of $150,000-200,000.
Far more important than its slight immediate
saving, the new charter should generate substantial long
term savings through more efficient allocation of the city's
scarce resources. For example, it is estimated that
cooperative purchasing by the city government and its related
entities would save more than $1 million per year;
consolidation of the departments of Public Works, Parks
and Streets will allow far more effective use of their workers
and equipment; and coordinated strategic planning and capital
budgeting will avoid redundant and unnecessary capital projects.
Opportunities to reduce unnecessary expenditures and perform
essential functions more efficiently will be realized by
management improvements including departmental reorganization,
more disciplined planning of capital investments, inter-governmental
cooperation, performance review of departments and employees,
performance auditing by the Comptroller, and oversight by
citizen boards. For example, central police booking
could save the city more than $1 million per year,
and combining schools and community centers could save millions
of dollars in capital and operating expenditures.
The Charter Revision Process
The Charter Revision Commission was appointed
by Mayor Masiello in April 1998 pursuant to state law empowering
cities to revise their charters. The Commission conducted
its business in approximately 65 regular weekly meetings,
numerous task force and committee meetings, many informal
meetings with civic and community organizations, and 21
public hearings. All meetings were open to the public.
The Commission interviewed department heads, union leaders,
experts on local government, elected officials and interested
citizens. It conducted public hearings in each of
the nine Council Districts to hear the ideas and concerns
of citizens and community organizations. Task forces
were organized to examine the issues and formulate proposed
improvements in city government. As proposed reforms
were developed, the Commission conducted public hearings
to solicit public comments on those likely to have the greatest
impact on the way city government affects the people.
The Commission then reconsidered, revised and referred the
proposed reforms to the drafting committee to be put into
charter language. Drafts of the new charter were reviewed
and revised by the full Commission. The document was
then re-drafted, reviewed, and adopted by the Commission
in final form.
The city appropriated $60,000 last year
and $80,000 this year to cover printing, public information
and miscellaneous expenses of the Commission. Since
the Commission did not have a paid staff, the work of charter
revision depended upon a massive volunteer effort.
The Commission and the city are indebted to many people.
The wisdom and commitment of James J. McLoughlin, our pro
bono counsel, Peter Savage, Executive Assistant to the Mayor,
and Darryl McPherson, Assistant Corporation Counsel, were
indispensable. A group of outstanding lawyers served
as special counsel to the Commission's task forces and drafting
committee: R. Donald Finn, Marianne E. Hanley, John
L. Kirschner, Michael Del Valle, James R. Grasso, James
F. Forton, David J. State, Richard F. Campbell, Chester G.
Dann, and Professor Milton Kaplan. Dean Nils Olsen
and Professors Frank W. Munger, Errol Meidinger, John B
Sheffer, II, Henry Louis Taylor, Jr., and Kathryn A. Foster,
and their colleagues and students at the University at Buffalo
contributed valuable ideas and assistance. Buffalo
State College political scientist Jon Lines made an enormous
contribution of time and professional expertise. Professor
Eric Lane of Hofstra University Law School gave us the benefit
of his experience as Executive Director of a highly successful
New York City Charter Revision Commission. The Buffalo
Niagara Partnership contributed the expertise and support
of Drew Eszak and other staff members. The Commission's
Public Information Committee received excellent professional
services from consultants Erie Mower and Associates, Anthony
Billoni, Jennifer Evans, staff assistance from Debbie Pringle,
thoughtful advice from volunteers Philip Haberstro, Marjorie
Gardner and Michael Billoni, and pro bono professional
assistance from William M. Collins. Sister Maureen
Danahy and the staff of the law firms of Phillips, Lytle,
Hitchcock, Blaine & Huber, LLP, and Magavern, Magavern
& Grimm, LLP, provided outstanding staff support to
the Commission.
Mayor Masiello, members of his administration,
and Comptroller Giambra and his staff gave full support
to the Commission's work without at any time seeking to
impose their own views. The Members and staff
of the Common Council provided important insight into the
legislative role and assistance in engaging the Commission
with their constituents.
Finally the members of the Commission
wish to acknowledge and thank the many public-spirited citizens
of our community who have contributed to the charter revision
process by coming forward with their ideas, opinions and
concerns.
Conclusion
Much has changed since 1927. City
government has become more complex and more difficult.
The Charter Revision Commission, aided by city government
and a wide array of citizens, has carefully reviewed the
city charter in light of the current needs of the city.
We have found that major reforms are needed; we also know
that successful reform builds on existing strengths.
While preserving the basic Council-Mayor-Comptroller form
of government established by the current charter, the new
charter creates a city government that is more disciplined,
more effective, and more accountable to its citizens.
It both reflects and respects the diversity, the strength,
and the public spirit of the citizens of Buffalo.
Respectfully submitted,
THE CHARTER REVISION COMMISSION OF THE
CITY OF BUFFALO
George K. Arthur Amy H. Friedman
Robert M. Greene Bishop Nathan S.
Halton
Thomas F. Higgins, Secretary
John J. Hurley
Lourdes T. Iglesias
Leeland N. Jones, Jr.
James L. Magavern, Chair Sharon D.
Randaccio
John M. Thomas, Vice-Chair
R. Marshall Wingate
