Anthony Masiello

Anthony M. Masiello (born April 28, 1947) was mayor of Buffalo, New York from 1994 to 2005. Prior to being mayor, he served as a New York State Senator.

Personal and Educational Background

A Buffalo native, who was educated in Buffalo Catholic schools, Anthony Masiello graduated from Canisius College in 1969 after a Hall of Fame career as a basketball standout for the Division I Golden Griffins. The Indiana Pacers subsequently drafted him in the National Basketball Association's third round.

Political Career Prior to Being Mayor

In 1971, Anthony Masiello began his career in elective office when he was elected as a district representative to the Buffalo Common Council. He was subsequently elected to an at-large seat on the Council and served as Democratic Majority leader in 1976. He also served as Chairman of the Council Finance Committee.

Masiello then entered the New York State Senate in 1980 and was re-elected to seven two-year terms (55th District 1981-82, 58th District 1983-93). Masiello's original Senate district encompassed mainly Buffalo and other parts of Erie County, New York. During the final year of his Senate service, his district encompassed Buffalo, Tonawanda, New York, Grand Island, New York, and Niagara Falls, New York. In the State Senate, Mayor Masiello ascended to Minority Whip and served as Chair of the Democratic Conference. As a senator, Masiello served as the Ranking Minority Member of various committees, including the Child Care Committee and the Energy Committee.

Mayor of Buffalo

Anthony M. Masiello was sworn in as the 57th Mayor of the city of Buffalo on January 1, 1994. Anthony Masiello received 65% of the Democratic Primary vote and 67% of the General Election vote in 1993. The Mayor was re-elected to second term in 1997 and a third term in 2001 with the joint endorsement of the Democratic and Republican parties. Much like his predecessor, James Griffin, Masiello was a registered Democrat but was significantly more conservative than the mainstream Democratic Party platform. In 1998 and 2002 he endorsed Republican Gov. George Pataki for reelection.

As mayor, he focused on economic development, governmental restructuring, and education. He cut over 1,000 jobs from the city payroll by restructuring management and the police department. He successfully sought approval from the state to create a joint construction fund for the city schools, which has been used to renovate and build city schools. He unsuccessfully sought to take control of the Buffalo Board of Education and install his own appointees. This is unlike Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City who won this authority.

During his third term, an audit discovered that $92 million was missing from the city treasury with no explanation on where the money went. Masiello worked to restructure city finances in order to combat the shortfall. His efforts included various cuts to programs, including in education. This caused elementary school students to picket City Hall demanding the restoration of the cuts. Following this the state imposed a Fiscal Control Board on the City of Buffalo in order to monitor its finances and control certain aspects of finance and budgets. Masiello worked with the Control Board to create a long term financial plan.

Family life

Mayor Masiello is the oldest of seven children born to Bridget and Dan Masiello. He is married to the former Kathleen McCue of Washingtonville, NY. He is the father of Kimberly, Ariel and Madeline Rose. He holds a Bachelor's degree from Canisius College and honorary degrees from Medaille College in Buffalo and Canisius College.

Retirement as Mayor

In 2005, he announced he was not running for re-election. He was succeeded by Byron Brown as mayor on December 31, 2005. Following his service as mayor, Masiello has joined a political consulting and lobbying firm located in Buffalo. He has also announced that he is considering converting the remaining $1 million in his campaign treasury into a charity.

External links

* [http://www.buffalonian.com/history/industry/mayors/Masiello.htm Biography]