Byron Brown

Infobox Mayor | Byron Brown
order=58^th Mayor of Buffalo
term_start=December 31, 2005
term_end=
predecessor=Anthony Masiello
successor=Incumbent
birth_date= "date unknown"
birth_place=Queens, New York
spouse= Michelle Brown
alma_mater= Buffalo State College
religion= Baptist
party=Democratic

Byron W. Brown was elected on November 8, 2005 as the 58th mayor of Buffalo, New York; He is the first African American mayor elected to the city. He previously served as a member of the New York State Senate. Both he and former mayor Grover Cleveland originally came from the New York City region.

History

When he was sworn in to the State Senate on January 1, 2001, Byron Brown became New York's first African-American State Senator elected outside of New York City. He also made history by becoming the first minority member of the New York State Senate to represent a majority white district. He was first elected to represent the Masten District on the Buffalo Common Council in 1995. While on the Council, Senator Brown was called "bright, creative and hardworking," in a Buffalo News survey and was recognized in 1989 by Ebony Magazine as one the “30 Leaders of the Future.” As mayor, he is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition [cite web| url=http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/about/members.shtml| title=Mayors Against Illegal Guns: Coalition Members] , a bi-partisan garoup with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Byron Brown started his career holding key staff positions with the President of the Buffalo Common Council, the Chair of the Erie County Legislature, and the Deputy Speaker of the New York State Assembly. Senator Brown also served as Erie County Executive Dennis Gorski’s Director of the Division of Equal Employment Opportunity.

A native of Queens, New York, Byron Brown came to Buffalo as a college freshman, earning a dual Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Journalism from Buffalo State College. He also completed a certificate program for senior executives in state and local government at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

The Buffalo Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1991 honored him with the "Martin Luther King, Jr. Award" for community service. In 1993 he was selected by Business First to its "40 Under Forty Honor Roll." In 2001, he was awarded the Infinity Broadcasting/WBLK "Voice of Power Award" and the “Citizen of the Year” award in 2004. He also received the "Political Impact Award" from the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority in 2001.

Byron Brown is married to the former Michelle Austin and they have a son, Byron III. They are members of the congregation at St. John Baptist Church. Byron Brown is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, a past President of the Buffalo State College Alumni Association Board, and sits on the Board of the Boy Scout Council of Western New York Fact|date=February 2007 and the Community Action Organization of Erie County. Byron Brown also is a member of the Erie County Democratic Committee. He was a delegate to the 1992, 2000 and 2004 Democratic National Convention.

Brown was a member of the controversial "Grassroots" political organization in Buffalo, a largely African-American group founded to displace State Assemblyman Arthur Eve's control over State funding to the Buffalo area.

On June 13, 2008, upon the death of NBC News Washington Bureau Chief and "Meet the Press" moderator Tim Russert, who was a proud Buffalo native, Mayor Brown ordered that all flags on city property be lowered to half-staff in order to honor Russert's memory. Although Mayor Brown called Russert one of Buffalo's finest ambassadors, his decision to lower the flags in honor of Russert, a civilian who never held elected office, was as unusual as it was touching.

Criticism

Since taking office, Brown has supported the Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino project. In recent times, however, he has fought with the Seneca Nation regarding a strip of road that runs between the two properties marked for casino construction. One of the terms that Mayor Brown insisted upon was the use of a racial quota hiring policy for the new casino.

In December of 2006, Brown's son, Byron Brown III, took the senior Brown's car without permission and drove about the area near his house and Canisius College campus. Brown III, 16, was intoxicated and hit and damaged a number of vehicles, including three Canisius students' cars. In April, 2007, Brown III admitted to the damage but was never charged with driving without a license and/or leaving the scenes of multiple accidents. Buffalo surveillance tapes of the incident were "misplaced", but Canisius managed to produce other tapes which incriminated Brown III. The only repercussions of the incident involved a minor fine paid by his attorney since the youth never appeared in court.

In the April 17, 2008 issue of Artvoice, a weekly news publication in Buffalo, Brown was voted "Worst Local Politician" by readers for the annual "Best of Buffalo" awards. [cite web| url=http://artvoice.com/issues/v7n16| title=Best of Buffalo 2008: We Have Our Winners]

On May 2, 2008, Brown made use of the Buffalo Police Department, police from neighboring suburbs, the S.W.A.T team, Erie County Sheriff's department (with officers' guns strapped to their thighs), CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives) Unit armored vehicles, the K-9 unit, and a mobile command to police "Quad Party," a yearly, end-of-semester celebration held by students of Canisius College, which is situated in his neighborhood, prompting accusations of "overkill" in terms of law enforcement presence. [ cite web| url=http://www.topix.net/forum/city/buffalo-ny/T77NIJML88LT19H4I/p4| title=Police Presence Overkill?]

In August 2008, it was revealed that Brown condoned a Buffalo Police Department policy of illegally witholding crime reports from public knowledge. [http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/408842.html]

Brown has been criticized for abusing resources of the Buffalo Police Department. An on-duty Police officer routinely provides Brown with all-day and all-night personal security. [http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/otherwny/story/404461.html]

References

External links

* [http://www.city-buffalo.com/Home/Leadership/Mayor Buffalo Mayor Website]