For this summary, we will report on the Civil Service, Finance, Legislation, and Community Development meetings. ‘Council Member’ is abbreviated as CM; ‘Council President’ as CP; ‘President Pro Tempore’ as PT; and ‘Majority Leader’ as ML.
 
The Civil Service Committee met to approve employment positions.  The committee approved the appointments of two community members to the Commission on Citizens’ Rights and Community Relations in order to give the commission quorum—enough members to even meet. The new appointees’ terms were backdated to January 2023.
 
In the Finance Committee, discussion around bond funding for capital projects brought out many commissioners. CM Wyatt asked the comptroller’s office to speak to the issue of continued city borrowing, especially given the substantial amount of American Rescue Plan money that had come in. Delano Dowell, Commissioner of Administration and Finance, explained that the city needed to continue borrowing to pay for capital projects.
 
Commissioner Nate Marton and Deputy Commissioner Francisco Guzman from the Department of Public Works spoke about their wish to fund ten new permanent generators. Eleven of the city’s 21 firehouses have these already, while the remaining firehouses are using temporary generators. Parks Department Commissioner Andy Rabb said that the Parks Dept wants to accept a federal grant to plant trees and promote neighborhood awareness about the importance of trees. Community member Dennice Barr suggested Buffalo should have a program like West Atlanta’s, in which “local residents…get certification in the green spaces around them that they get stipends to maintain.”
 
Police commissioner Joseph Gramaglia spoke about the department’s desire to accept funding for new tasers, and a new program that would integrate private security camera footage into the BPD’s own database. CP Scanlon said, “it got to feel a little Big Brother to me at times.” He asked who can see the video footage and what happens when the city cancels the contract. Gramaglia said that there would be audit trails to monitor that. The new tasers have a 45-foot range. According to Gramaglia, the Taser 10 has a strobe light on the front and an ear-piercing sound, which officers can use first, before they shoot. Gramaglia said that this will help with de-escalation.
 
The committee then heard from Timothy Frost, Regional Director of American Medical Response (AMR), which operates ambulance services for the city. Frost was invited to speak to the council after CM Nowakowski sent a letter to AMR outlining concerns he had heard from residents about slow response times, and after the council approved a resolution to study operating a city-run ambulance service.
 
Frost outlined the challenges leading to slower response times. These include a severe, nationwide workforce shortage of EMTs; backups at hospital ERs that keep ambulances off the road while they wait to offload a patient; and a high number of low-acuity (non-emergency) calls that tie up ambulances and prevent them from responding quickly to high-acuity (emergency) calls. AMR has been operating without a contract on a month-to-month basis since the last contract lapsed in 2020.
 
Many of Frost’s points were confirmed by Dr. Joe Bart, medical director for the Buffalo Fire Department. Both recommended the city implement a Nurse Navigator program. This program would put a nurse on the call dispatch staff so that 911 calls that were less urgent could be handled over the phone, while still providing medical care and advice. The nurse could also follow-up over the phone if someone was waiting a long time for an ambulance to arrive.
 
Council members asked questions about AMR’s data and records, why no contract was in place, why the Emergency Services Board mandated by the city charter had not met since 2015, and how calls were triaged. The item was tabled to allow for further discussion, with some council members expressing that reconvening the Emergency Services Board was a good next step. Signing a new contract is the responsibility of the city’s law department.
 
Members of the Legislation Committee heard about a new proposal, “Modernizing Fine Caps to Reflect True Costs on Residents.” This measure is intended to bring up fee levels so they can act as deterrents; the last fee structure change was in the early 1970s. This item was tabled (i.e. put off for later discussion) but received vocal support from several council members.
 
Community Development Committee members very briefly discussed, then tabled, a proposal to establish a City of Buffalo Public Dumping Task Force. This group would consist of members from the Police, Permits and Inspections, Public Works, and Citizens’ Services departments, as well as a local Block Club representative.