Through The Mayor's Eyes
The Only Complete History of the Mayor's of Buffalo, New York
Compiled by Michael Rizzo

James D. Griffin

1978 - 1993

HISTORY

                  James Donald Griffin was born in Buffalo  on June 29, 1929. One of four children, he grew up in the South Park  Avenue-Hamburg Street section of the First Ward.

                It was a place where we never had to worry about a flood because no one had a cellar. It was a place where most people were on the edge of welfare

                Many of the people worked as (grain) scoopers trying to get enough money to last through the winter.

                That was before unemployment  insurance, and welfare  was something you looked down on...something you took just before you went to the poorhouse.

                I worked in a store after school when I was 12. I always played a lot of sports. I quit South Park High School  as a sophomore. I went to work in the grain elevators I was 16 at the time but that was during the war. They didn't question your age too much.

                I worked summers at the Elk Street Market unloading Budweiser kegs, I worked at McMahon's store at South Park  and Hamburg for 25 cents an hour when I was in the seventh grade at St. Brigid's - I never worried about what job I had as long as I made a buck.

                Well, I decided I had to complete high school so I went to Our Lady of Victory High School in Lackawanna. I should have been a junior, but Sister DeLaSalle - she was the principal - let me take senior subjects so I could graduate in a year. He graduated in 1948.

                In 1951 he enlisted in the Army, became a paratrooper, and an officer. He served in the Korean conflict and saw combat with the Fifth Regimental Combat Team. He was discharged as a first lieutenant.

                He then became an engineer for the Buffalo  Creek  Railroad.

                Griffin used GI Bill benefits to attend Erie County Technical Institute (now Erie Community College ) to study metallurgy in 1957, graduating in 1958. I worked in a metallurgical lab once and it was very interesting. But I just couldn't stand inside work.

                I was at the local gin mill and Frank Hahn...said åWhy don't you run for public office.' So I did. I ran against Kupsy (Edward S.) Kolodziej for Eighth Ward Supervisor. I got beat by 150 votes, but I guess they knew I was around. That was in 1959.

                In the 1960 he passed a civil service exam for recreation instructor.

                I was fifth or sixth on the list. I was a naive guy who figured they were on the square but they kept passing my name by.

                In 1961 he made an independent run for Ellicott District councilman. He won the primary against incumbent Wilbur P. Trammell Working third shift on the railroad, he'd sleep a few hours, then start ringing doorbells at 10 a.m. He went on to win the general election.

                He was re-elected in 1963 with Democratic backing.

                In 1965 he once again ran as an independent in the Democratic primary for councilman-at-large and lost to Ed Regan

                In 1966 he defeated the Democratic incumbent in the primary for the State Senate. He won, what seemed to him, an impossible general election, from Senator Bertrand H. Hoak, a local restauranteur

                As a senator, Griffin sponsored amendments for special medical cases for people on Medicaid, and introduced a bill that would have required firing pins be removed from guns displayed in stores for sale. It was later defeated.

                Griffin ran for re-election as state senator in the 56th District, in 1972. As senator he supported aid to non-public schools, voted against the 1970 abortion  law, and made the Buffalo  Board of Education  an elected board.

                I was an independent - or an asshole, depending on your point of view. I really got along better with the Republicans than the Democrats. We started a Senate softball team. ...That's how I got to know...some of the others.

                He vowed to continue to fight for a no-fault auto insurance program that will help the average driver, and not the insurance companies.

                Griffin sought re-election to a 5th term as state senator in 1974.

                Speaking about election reform: I think the (spending limit for campaigns) should be about $25,000... This is where Watergate started.

                I think television could help by providing more time. TV is a very costly way to campaign and I think there are other ways - the way I do it, for example, by person-to-person campaigning, at bingo games, going door-to-door and in shopping plazas.

                He quit as deputy minority leader of the Senate in 1975 as a matter of conscience.

                Griffin ran against the Democratic organization-endorsed candidate, Allen E. Dekdebrun, for county executive in 1975, but lost the primary.

                On February 11, 1977 Griffin announced his campaign for mayor. He described City Hall  as a place of indecision and inaction...top heavy with patronage jobs.

                And about Joe Crangle :

                His main interest in government has not been to provide better government for the residents of Buffalo , but to use city patronage as a weapon to tighten his grip and cement his control on political power.

                We need someone who will provide a city government that is honest, open and responsive to all citizens, not one that is only open to a select few.

                On March 3, 1977 Arthur O. Eve  announced his candidacy for mayor of Buffalo

                Mayor Stanley Makowski  decided not to seek re-election in May, leaving Joe Crangle  scrambling to find a candidate. Crangle  chose Corporation Counsel Leslie G. Foschio, who became the endorsed candidate.

                Running as the uncontested Conservative candidate, and possible Democratic candidate, Griffin's campaign platform included strengthening the neighborhoods and providing basic services.

                That's what this campaign boils down to.

                We've got to give the people the basic services they want and deserve - police  and fire protection, quality education and streets that are free of debris and snow.

                And you don't do it by being someone else's man. You do it by being a good, independent mayor.

                We need luxury apartments downtown I'm convinced a lot of people would like to move back to Buffalo , and they would if we gave them the facilities.

                He was against police  precinct consolidation , and believed that City Court judge's terms should be lowered to seven years from ten.

                I wouldn't be running if Stanley Makowski  was his own man. I supported Stan four years ago.

                But I don't believe he's made three of his own appointments. Jobs have been created and filled through Joe Crangle , and the city has suffered.

                I wouldn't give education any more priority than I'd give the police , fire and sanitation departments.

                We've got to take politics out of (the Human Resources) department. Its a patronage haven, too closely connected with the Genesee Building (Democratic Headquarters).

                On September 8, 1977 the primaries were held. Eve was the surprise Democratic winner, receiving approximately 25,538 votes. Griffin came second with 23,579, and endorsed candidate Foschio received 18,172. Another independent candidate , Albert F. Lorenzo, received 2,245 votes.

                Griffin mistakenly thought he had won the primary and made an acceptance speech. When he found out differently, he recanted.

                In the Republican primary, John J. Phelan  received 9,047 to Donald L. Turchiarelli 's 3,076 votes. Turchiarelli , though, was the uncontested Liberal candidate It was, therefore, going to be a three-way race for mayor in November.

                Griffin spent approximately $75,577 for his primary battle, Eve $81,189, and party endorsed candidate, Foschio, $183,093.

                After the primary, Chairman Crangle  endorsed Eve, who had won the Democratic primary. Eve initially accepted the endorsement, until he was identified as part of the Crangle  machine. He then attempted to distance himself  from Crangle  by announcing that he was not supporting Crangle 's bid for re-election in 1978.

 PERSONAL LIFE

                  James Donald Griffin married Margaret McMahon on May 4, 1968. They had three children, Maureen, Megan and Tom. The Griffin's have lived at 420 Dorrance Avenue, on the Lackawanna city line, for their entire married life.