A heralded grass-roots leader in Buffalo has been fired from the East Side nonprofit organization he founded three years ago.
Michael Gainer was removed Monday as operations manager of Buffalo ReUse, which salvages building materials sold in its ReUse store as an alternative to demolition, to promote neighborhood development and provide jobs for inner- city youth.
Gainer was sacked by Harvey Garrett, another prominent grass-roots leader hired in March to be chief executive officer and to replace Gainer as executive director
His relationship with Garrett as an intermediary failed, he said, due to “incompatible values, priorities and vision.” - read the rest.
Make certain to check out Chris Smith's coverage of this story over at Buffalo Geek and Alan's Buffalo Pundit - Rocky Week for Buffalo Activism. Here's the latest video from WNYmedia where Michael Gainer speaks out about these developments.
update - 3:58pm
In a historic reversal, the cities are embracing plans that emphasize growing smaller. In Buffalo, where more than a third of the students drop out of high school, Michael Gainer, executive director of Buffalo ReUse, is putting young people to work dismantling some of the thousands of abandoned homes and selling the scrap materials.
Artspace • BAVPA • Woodlawn Row Houses • fixBuffalo flickr
Creative Class • Shrinking Cities • Saturdays in the Neighborhood
3 comments:
This has happened in St. Louis recently, and all I can say is that Michael has nothing to worry about -- the sun always shines on those who are forthright, passionate and concerned about making the world better. Stay strong!
Michael - your blog - Ecology of Absence - continues to inspire.
David
Oh how rediculous. So glad I don't work in the wonderful world of NP in Buffalo- this stuff happens a lot and ends up giving the organization a bad rap.
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