BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Buffalo made history Thursday as Mayor Sean Ryan was sworn in as the city's new mayor at Kleinhans Music Hall, marking the first time in 20 years that Buffalo has welcomed a newly-elected mayor. Ryan pledged to "build a better Buffalo" as the city embarks on a new era of leadership.
I spoke with Mayor Ryan on his first day in office about his priorities as he begins to lead New York's second largest city.
The newly-elected mayor wasted no time outlining his immediate agenda, starting with a comprehensive audit of the city's finances through the state comptroller's office. Ryan acknowledged the challenge of inheriting a budget midway through the fiscal year.
"I'm inheriting a budget halfway through, so the budget that's in place, you will stay in place until the end of May. So during that time, we have to get a really good handle on it," Mayor Ryan said.
The mayor also expressed his intention to provide greater transparency regarding the Buffalo Police Department's internal investigation that concluded this week. The investigation examined how Buffalo police responded to hit-and-run crashes involving a chief in the Erie County Sheriff's Office. Officers who responded that night have accepted penalties.
Ryan criticized the lengthy timeline of the investigation and questioned its thoroughness.
"Why did it take so many months to conclude an investigation? Mind you, every one of the officers who are under investigation stayed home and got paid for month after month, and at the end of it, it didn't seem like the investigation really yielded much. It could have been done in a series of weeks," Ryan said.
He noted the timing of the investigation's completion was unusual and said he would have preferred the case be settled after he took office.
When asked about his thoughts on the investigation's findings, Ryan said he needs to review the files first.
"You've got to get the files and look at it. But we'll be talking about this in the next week or two as I get my arms around the file, remembering that I have no ability to look at any of the government files until today," Ryan said.
Downtown Buffalo's business climate remains another key focus from Ryan's campaign trail. The closure of popular Allentown restaurant Allen Burger Venture, after 11 years of operation, announced Thursday, highlighted ongoing challenges facing local businesses.
Ryan said the true impact of such closures will be measured by whether new businesses fill vacant spaces.
"The real task of the impact of that closure will be several months from now. Is another restaurant in the spot, and if there's another restaurant in the spot, then that's a reflection of the ups and downs of the business cycle and a new entrepreneur came in," Ryan said.
However, if spaces remain empty for months, Ryan views that as a reflection of a "bad business climate" that needs addressing.
The mayor also plans to meet with the city comptroller following a legal battle between her office and the Common Council over the issuing of capital bonds.
"Reinforce the importance of getting that capital money out into the streets because the people of Buffalo deserve better roads. They deserve better community centers, they deserve pools that have been fixed," Mayor Ryan said.
Ryan acknowledged that figuring out the city's deficit is his top priority. He does not anticipate this year's budget will be balanced by the end of the year, but plans to create an honest budget for the new fiscal year.
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