Following their monthly meeting - the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority's Board of Commissioners refused to speak to the media Thursday. Several reporters wanted to give the officials an opportunity to respond to claims by the Comptroller that the BMHA owes taxpayers more than $3 million.
People who rent public housing in Buffalo will be barred from smoking in their homes starting this summer.
The Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority unanimously approved a new "Smoke-Free" policy during its March meeting Thursday.
Dennis Waite, a smoker who lives in the Sedita Apartments, says it's his constitutional right to do what he wants inside his home. Waite says tenants were shut out of the process.
"BMHA violated the law, I feel, when they didn't inform us that all the written comments had to be done between October and January 19. We didn't get notified until three days later," Waite said.
The new policy will take effect July 1. BMHA officials refused to speak to the press about the issue, or any other issues, including the more than $3 million that Buffalo's comptroller says the authority owes City Hall.