WBFO’s “What’s Next?” will conclude its sit-down series with the major candidates for the upcoming Buffalo Mayoral Election this Wednesday, February 26th at 10:00 am. The final installment of the series will feature the person currently leading City Hall.
Acting Buffalo Mayor Chris Scanlon understands the importance of the upcoming Buffalo mayoral election, which is slated to be Buffalo’s most contested mayoral race in over 20 years.
As the current Acting Mayor, Scanlon has a unique opportunity to show Buffalonians why they should vote for him to have an extended stay in City Hall. He recently sat down with WBFO to share how his current administration would perform if given a full term.
“One thing that is driving me and my administration, and people are going to get sick of hearing me say it, is partnerships, collaboration, and bringing everyone together,” Scanlon said. “Whether it's the public sector, the private sector, the nonprofit sector, our community organizations, our block clubs, getting everyone on the same page so that we're pulling in the same direction because that's when we're most successful.”
When asked about the recent changes to the Buffalo Police Department, Scanlon expressed his vision for the future of the force, and how they can create a better public image.
“I want our officers out, walking our commercial corridors, walking through our neighborhoods, making sure they're building relationships with our residents, with our business owners, so people feel safe,” Scanlon said. “Far too often, someone's first interaction with a police officer is a negative one. If someone's calling 911, for a police officer, someone in this situation is probably not having their best day. I think it would only help the situation if there's some sort of rapport built with the person who called, the person they're calling on, to help avoid these negative situations that we've seen in the past.”
Scanlon was upfront about his takeaways from the Byron Brown administration, citing his observed weaknesses he intends to improve upon.
“The number one thing that I've noticed, and I think that my colleagues on the council criticized the previous administration for is communication,” Scanlon said. “I think that we've taken a different approach to communicating, let’s say the budget's coming up, I've been very clear to the council members, the last thing I'm going to do is drop the budget on your desk the day it's due. You're going to be brought into the conversations in the very near future, so you know what's going on, what the challenges are ahead, and you're not blindsided by anything. So, we're going to continue to operate that way.”
To listen to the full conversation with Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon, tune in to WBFO’s “What’s Next?” at 10 am this upcoming Wednesday.
Sit-down interviews with all the major candidates for the upcoming mayoral election can be found as separate “What’s Next?” episodes at WBFO.org.
The installments feature conversations with State Senator Sean Ryan, University District Councilmember Rasheed Wyatt, Former Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield, and Founder of Buffalo ReUse, Michael Gainer.
