It's no secret that the city of Buffalo is in the midst of a financial crisis. It's also no secret that the suburbs of Erie County, home to UB's North Campus, are among the wealthiest in the state, as well as in the country.
Several representatives of Erie County and Buffalo city government met in a forum for discussion of the city's fiscal state Wednesday sponsored by UB Law School's Progressive Law Society. While the forum's title was "Buffalo's Quest for Financial Stability," the participants engaged in a debate on the merits and methods of "regionalism."
Regionalism literally means a loyalty to a distinct region with a homogeneous population, but has been broadened to also mean development of a political or social system based on one or more such areas.
It is the broadened definition that concerned Wednesday's events in O'Brian Hall. The format of the forum was simple: each of the seven primary speakers spoke on the matter of regionalism, formatting the term to fit their beliefs, agendas and ideals.
"There is no such thing," said Erie County Executive Joel Giambra, "as a successful suburb with a dying city."
This was perhaps the only olive branch the county executive offered the city of Buffalo during the evening. Giambra stressed that Erie County is in competition with Ohio and western Pennsylvania for jobs, and that it is a battle Western New York cannot win while the property taxes here are one third more than in those locales.
Giambra was very clear about his desire to lower taxes, and stressed collaboration between various Erie County municipalities. He did not, however, favor sharing tax revenue generated by the wealthier suburbs with the city of Buffalo itself.
James W. Pitts, Buffalo Common Council president, saw this as an area of contention. Soon thereafter, the meeting designed for an open exchange of ideas turned into a debate dominated primarily by Giambra and Pitts.
"There are two elephants in the room," Pitts remarked as he began his statement, "and they are class and race."
Pitts, a longtime figure in Buffalo politics, was quick to assert that "regionalism" was historically anti-city, saying it ignored the two "elephants" he saw to be the underlying issues in both the deterioration of Buffalo and the reluctance of the county to lend direct financial assistance to the city.
Pitts claimed that Giambra created an intentionally harmful firewall between Buffalo and the surrounding towns that would not permit any money from the suburbs to go to the city. He also threw jabs at the state government's failure to send adequate funding to the city.
In pointing out that the state had failed to come through on a variety of needs ranging from civil service professionals to teachers, he said, "If we don't get state [money] we shouldn't have to pay state taxes."
Lackawanna Mayor John Kuryak disagreed. "We can't rely on the federal, state or county governments. It's time for municipalities to stand up, show some courage and voice a plan," he said.
In keeping with the taxation theme, Kuryak spoke of his town's population decrease over the past two-and-a-half decades, and how despite the drop in residents, the taxes remain the same.
Kevin Gaughan, an advocate of increased regionalism, outlined a plan that he said would be an example to the rest of the country. His plan would involve a system of loans starting at the federal level. These loans would be given to the county and would essentially end up forcing the suburbs of Erie County to loan money to Buffalo, and thus, according to Gaughan, "give them a vested interest in the city's future."
Since the money used would be generated from tax revenue, critics are cautious about the fiscal responsibility of such a program.
One matter that was somewhat ignored during the course of the evening was the one major institutional link between the suburbs of Erie County and the city of Buffalo - UB.
After the forum, several of the key players weighed in when asked how the administration and UB students could positively affect a change in the current economic system.
Giambra suggested "increased political involvement" amongst students; Pitts was more specific in demanding that UB "stop building housing on North Campus," and "invest in the South Campus area."
Pitts called for students to "be a presence on and near South Campus," and for administrators to help by bolstering student housing and services in the region.
"UB is perhaps the most important asset this region has," said Gaughan. "You have to change your framework of analysis with trying to connect with the community because you are the community."
He alluded to the need for UB students to get more involved in local issues. "In this age of collaborative governments, no man, woman, government or educational institution is an island."
