Ever want to live in a firehouse or school? Here's your chance. Three fire houses and two schools are up for grabs. City of Buffalo - in addition to the Septemeber 22 auction, here - has published and RFP for the disposition of the following assets.
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The former library on Amherst would make a terrific home. So would the Elmwood fire house, except for the heavy traffic.
Something’s Not Kosher in Buffalo!
By James Drenning
Saturday (Today) is Yom Kippur. It is the Holiest Day of the year for the Jewish Religion. It is the “Day of Atonement” for Jews throughout the world and throughout thousands of years of history. If I were Jewish it would be the one day out of the year that I would not allow myself to write about it. The Day is announced on all calendars; from the Easter Seals calendar to the one we receive from the Buffalo News.
But today is also the Saturday that the City of Buffalo has decided to hold a “secret real estate auction.” (Did you know that the City of Buffalo was having an auction today?). Having an auction on Yom Kippur limits the number of bidders and will cost the city money. Forget being politically correct, but there is an unspoken rule among people everywhere that everyone understands. It’s called “common decency.” I know many people that would be insulted if the city was going to hold an auction at noon on Good Friday and they are outraged at what is taking place today!
The City is well aware of these complaints; it had more than enough time to postpone the auction. However, the City chose to purposely ignore them and to continue the insult. The City of Buffalo is not a private company. Even if some people believe they own it.
The home page for the city of Buffalo; http://www.city-buffalo.com/Home doesn’t mention an auction. In the upper left hand corner it lists the calendar of events; http://www.city-buffalo.com/Home/NewsCalendar/Calendar_of_Events. Nowhere does it state that the city is going to auction off 90 parcels of land.
On the upper right of the home page you will find “Citistat;” http://www.city-buffalo.com/Home/Leadership/Mayor/CitiStat_Buffalo. It is supposed to be a tool that could be used to prevent mistakes in city hall. In reality however; it is all about show business. For once it could have been useful, but it failed miserably.
These are the first lines from Citistat: “Beginning at the outset of his 2005 mayoral campaign, Mayor Byron Brown stated that a top priority of his mayoral administration would be ensuring greater accountability and efficiency in the management and delivery of city services to the residents of Buffalo.”
Yet you can telephone any office at anytime and you will automatically be told that whom ever you would like to speak with is in a meeting. (If you get a chance you should try this for yourself!). Not only that, if it’s a serious matter such as this; “don’t expect a return call!” Buffalo failed the “common decency” test today, and should be embarrassed. The fact that they're not embarrassed shouldn’t go un-noticed.
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