BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Buffalo's Common Council held its annual reorganization meeting on Friday, electing new leadership just one day after Mayor Sean Ryan was sworn into office.
Common Council members selected Delaware District lawmaker Joel Feroleto as the new council president, who has served for a decade on the council.
WATCH: 'A number of things that we need to address': Buffalo Common Council elects new leadership
Feroleto was sworn in by his mother, State Supreme Court Judge Paula Feroleto.
"It was very touching to have my mom swear me in," Feroleto said.
Chris Scanlon, who returned to his South District seat after serving as acting mayor for the past year, praised Feroleto's leadership qualities.
"His ability to stay calm and think through a problem and work through the problem instead of overreacting, and I think it will serve him well as council president," Scanlon said.
Feroleto emphasized that lawmakers must work for the city residents they serve each day, acknowledging the diverse needs across Buffalo's nine districts.
"There are a number of things that we need to address, and with the city council, each one of us represents 1/9 of the city, and the issues and priorities for each district are very different," Feroleto noted. "In the Delaware district, we have two of the best commercial strips in the city, with Hertel and Elmwood, but we have, you know, downtown, the council members that represent downtown, one of their biggest priorities, is bringing more people downtown, so it's really district dependent, but we will all work together and work with each other for what's important in their districts and what's important for the city as a whole."
The new council president also stressed the importance of transparency for residents.
"Even with the council meetings we have, we have the agendas, and stuff is online, we want to try to improve that. See if we can improve any items to make it easier for the city website, city meetings, contacting city officials, anything to make that more accessible and an easier process for residents is something that we'd certainly like to look at," Feroleto said.
Council members also elected Masten District Councilwoman Zeneta Everhart to serve as president pro-temp.
"It's an honor. It's always an honor to serve," she said. "I'm looking forward to doing some new things as president, pro temp, I already have an agenda set."
Everhart identified housing as her top priority.
"Our number one agenda, I've already talked to my colleagues, is housing," Everhart said. "We're going to tackle housing, not from individual spaces, but together as a district, but we're going to have a number of different things on that agenda that will be set forth in the next couple of weeks."
Ellicott District lawmaker Leah Halton-Pope was re-elected council majority leader.
"I'm honored that my colleagues would even consider keeping me in this position. It's a lot of hard work," Halton-Pope stated.
The majority leader outlined her immediate priorities for the council.
"I think we need to figure out that we're probably going to be dealing with the budget," Halton-Pope replied. "The first thing we're going to be doing this year, this month, is midterm budget hearings."
Halton-Pope emphasized the importance of collective work among council members.
"Looking through the budget, making sure that we're staying on top of things," she said. "Working more collectively and cohesively is what's really important for this council."
While the Common Council operates independently from the mayor's office, the new leadership pledged to work with Ryan's administration on the city's most challenging issues.
"It's critically important that we remain independent in how we operate, and so I'm looking forward to this upcoming year working with the new administration, some of the new policies and opportunities that we have out of this for the City of Buffalo," Halton-Pope said.
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