Buffalo, New York – Our City Action Buffalo, a broad coalition of Buffalo residents who have come together to support movement politics and people-powered campaigns, held its 4th annual State of OUR CITY on Tuesday, March 1st at 7pm at Main Events Banquet Hall, located at 1420 Main St, Buffalo. Over 125 Buffalo residents participated in the event, including former Democratic nominee for Mayor of Buffalo India B. Walton and NYC Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams.
Speakers included poor and working-class residents, as well as Buffalo residents from every other socioeconomic background, who spoke about the challenges that continue to plague the city of Buffalo. They spoke from their lived experiences about such topics as climate resiliency, public education and transportation, investing in frontline arts
organizations, affordable housing, immigration reform, and public safety.
Two weeks later, OCAB and Buffalo residents remain perplexed as to why Mayor Byron W. Brown has not yet delivered his annual State of the City address.
We call on the mayor, Mayor Byron W. Brown, to deliver the State of the City in a timely manner, and respond to the queries and comments that his constituents raised at OCAB’s State of Our City, of which there were many. To not do so would be a blatant dereliction of duty.
“Mayor Brown has been all but absent since he won the election this past November. The only time we hear from him he’s either touting another gentrifying project from developer Douglas Jemal or talking about the new Bills stadium, which will remain in Orchard Park,” said Our City Action leader Paul Morgan. “It’s time for the mayor to answer to his actual constituents, and host the annual State of the City. Better late than never.”
Additional highlights from the State of Our City are below:
“This is an organizing space. Just because there’s not an election going on right now doesn’t mean that there aren’t levers of power we can pull. This is not just our city, this is our time,” said State of Our City co-host and former Buffalo mayoral candidate India B. Walton.
“Every issue being brought up today impacts our kids much more than us. There’s nothing wrong with our young people. We’re the grownups and we’re not looking out for
them. If a child gets what they need, they don’t pick up arms,” said Buffalo Public School teacher and Buffalo Parent-Teacher Organization member Eve Shippens.
NYC Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams said, “We’ve heard a lot about how the government has failed working class people while the cost of living becomes more unaffordable. Across the state people want affordable housing, healthcare, and real public safety.”
Valerie Juang of the Western New York Youth Climate Counsel spoke on the climate crisis and the need for a sustainability office, she said, “Our community knows what it needs. We have the resources and now we have to put them into action.”
###
Our City Action Buffalo (OCAB) is a multiracial organization that builds power through grassroots political organizing.
For more information about the organization, please visit: www.ourcityactionbuffalo.com.
