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City Official Pay Raises in Buffalo:
A Story of Arrogance & Greed

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Paul Wolf Interview on 7 ABC Voices

Elected Officials in Buffalo worked together to fast track pay raises for themselves . They were in such a hurry that they violated Common Council meeting rules, the City Charter and the Open Meetings Law on multiple occasions.
 
Despite being informed that they were not following the law, the Council, and the Mayor did it anyway. They figured no one would spend the time and the money to challenge their illegal actions.
 
They were wrong.
 
It matters when Council meeting rules are violated, it matters when the City Charter is ignored and it matters when the public is kept in the dark through violations of the Open Meetings Law.
 
The New York Coalition For Open Government and two brave city residents Nathan Feist and Matthew Austin have filed a lawsuit to hold government officials accountable for their illegal actions.
 
A copy of the Petition is below. It is anticipated that there will be a court date in January. As part of the lawsuit we are requesting that the court delay implementation of the pay raises until this matter is decided.

Court Documents

Buffalo Article 78 Final Petition

Buffalo Article 78 Final Memo of Law

News Coverage

Investigative Post

The Common Council has approved big salary increases for city elected officials, including themselves. An attorney and transparency advocate questions the legality of the process.

Link to news article

Buffalo News

The Buffalo Common Council approved on Tuesday the recommended pay raises for elected officials in the city, giving themselves, the mayor and others 12.63% increases.

Not so fast, says a couple of Buffalo residents and a government transparency watchdog group who argue the pay raises were illegally adopted and are asking Erie County State Supreme Court to stop them.

Link to news article

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