10

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See Shooting Buffalo for more about this series and my flickr for additional pics of Buffalo, NY. I'm collecting this daily series of pics - here.

9

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See Shooting Buffalo for more about this series and my flickr for additional pics of Buffalo, NY. I'm collecting this daily series of pics - here.

8

click image to enlarge

See Shooting Buffalo for more about this series and my flickr for additional pics of Buffalo, NY. I'm collecting this daily series of pics - here.

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Artspace • BAVPA • Woodlawn Row Houses • fixBuffalo flickr
Creative Class • Shrinking Cities • Saturdays in the Neighborhood

Buffaloed - Part III

Three additional media pieces have appeared in the last 24 hours about Michael Gainer's firing from Buffalo ReUse.

Artvoice has a cover blurb and this short piece in their weekly news round-up.

Michael Gainer, founder of Buffalo ReUse, was canned from the organization he envisioned and made reality by interim executive director Harvey Garrett. For full satisfaction, you’ll need to follow this story as it unfolds online on various blogs. (Try WNYMedia.net for starters.) But here are the bare bones:

Gainer was replaced as executive director in January by his board of directors, with which he’d had a contentious relationship. The board accused Gainer of poor financial management—a charge to which Gainer pleads guilty—while he suspected the board was more interested in bottom lines than in what he regards as the raisons d’etre for Buffalo ReUse: community development, neighborhood building, job training. Gainer was demoted to operations manager, and West Side housing activist Garrett was named ED. According to Garrett, Gainer continued to put Buffalo ReUse in legal and financial jeopardy, and his relationship with the board grew worse. Gainer says he felt undermined by both Garrett and the board, and that what he’d needed all along was a financial manager to put the organization’s books in order—not to be replaced. Last week, Garrett says, Gainer was put on unpaid leave, for reasons he would not divulge. On Monday, Garrett says the board told him to dismiss Gainer. Both Gainer and the board have released statements about the dismissal. Many members of the organization are furious. Many ReUse employees feel at sea. This is an interesting and fraught moment for ReUse, a young, celebrated not-for-profit; for Gainer, its dynamic but somewhat flawed founder; and for Garrett, a popular community activist with his reputation on the line.

Buffalo Rising covered the story with Elena's post this morning - here.

WBFO aired - Buffalo ReUse Founder Fired - this morning that includes an interview with Stephanie Simeon, the President of Buffalo ReUse's board. There a few links to additional Buffalo ReUse stories following that link.

Here's Part I & II

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Artspace • BAVPA • Woodlawn Row Houses • fixBuffalo flickr
Creative Class • Shrinking Cities • Saturdays in the Neighborhood

7

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See Shooting Buffalo for more about this series and my flickr for additional pics of Buffalo, NY. I'm collecting this daily series of pics - here.

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Artspace • BAVPA • Woodlawn Row Houses • fixBuffalo flickr
Creative Class • Shrinking Cities • Saturdays in the Neighborhood

"Buffalo ReUse: Building Community" - Video

Carl Lee sent his video - Buffalo ReUse: Building Community - to me this morning. He shot it last year as part of a program sponsored by Squeaky Wheel.

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Artspace • BAVPA • Woodlawn Row Houses • fixBuffalo flickr
Creative Class • Shrinking Cities • Saturdays in the Neighborhood

6

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See Shooting Buffalo for more about this series and my flickr for additional pics of Buffalo, NY. I'm collecting this daily series of pics - here. Check out - The Red Mark of Death - another developing series about broken and neglected buildings.

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Artspace • BAVPA • Woodlawn Row Houses • fixBuffalo flickr
Creative Class • Shrinking Cities • Saturdays in the Neighborhood

5

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See Shooting Buffalo for more about this series and my flickr for additional pics of Buffalo, NY. I'm collecting this daily series of pics - here. Additional Buffalo grain elevators pics can be found in another series - here.

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Artspace • BAVPA • Woodlawn Row Houses • fixBuffalo flickr
Creative Class • Shrinking Cities • Saturdays in the Neighborhood

Buffaloed - Part II

Mark Sommer wrote the following article that appeared in today's Buffalo News - ReUse Founder Fired. Yesterday's Part I provides some additional background.

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.

More after tonight's meeting. Stay tuned...

update - 3:58pm

I just spotted this in last week's Wall Street Journal - 'Fastest Dying Cities' Meet for a Lively Talk.

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.

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Artspace • BAVPA • Woodlawn Row Houses • fixBuffalo flickr
Creative Class • Shrinking Cities • Saturdays in the Neighborhood

Buffaloed

I've been a huge supporter of Buffalo ReUse and Michael Gainer's leadership and vision. Under Michael's leadership the organization was formed and moved to this neighborhood, around the corner on Northampton. It has become a functionally integrated and necessary component in helping shift perceptions and gradually move this neighborhood off of life-support. I've blogged about Buffalo ReUse with a dozen posts - google 'gainer' in this blog's search box - and see this organization and Michael's works as a unique and transformative moment in an increasingly fragmented landscape in this, the country's third poorest city.

This morning I learned that Michael Gainer was fired yesterday from his position by Harvey Garrett, a west side housing activist and the newly appointed interim Executive Director of Buffalo ReUse. I spoke with Michael this morning and just met with him this afternoon. Harvey Garrett responded in an email that he'd have a statement for me this afternoon.

Stay tuned...

update - 4:03pm

In response to my request for an official statement from Buffalo ReUse, I received the following statement from Harvey Garrett this afternoon via email.

This is the official statement so far - it's still being worked on but here it is.

As no doubt you already know, Michael Gainer, one of our founding members, is no longer employed by Buffalo ReUse. Buffalo ReUse will forever be indebted to Michael for his vision, passion and drive, without which Buffalo ReUse would not exist today. The decision to part ways with Michael was the most difficult our young organization has faced, and we assure you it was absolutely our last resort. As the statement released by Michael indicates “lots” of “mistakes” were made, protocols were not followed and the chain of command was not respected. These infractions have created significant barriers to the organization, its sustainability and its future growth. Like all not for profit entities, Buffalo ReUse--and everyone associated with it--must, above all else, follow clearly defined regulations and protocol for its business matters. Unfortunately, a cross-roads has been reach with Michael regarding these matters and accordingly a change had to be made.

We wish Michael the best in his future professional endeavors.

If you would like further information we urge you to contact Stephanie Simeon, Chair of the Board of Directors at Stephanie.simeon@gmail.com.

I'll be posting additional material and statements about this rapidly developing story as it becomes available.

Make sure to check out the growing comment stream/video that Chris Smith has posted over at Buffalo Geek - here. A video interview with Michael Gainer about these developments is in the works.

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Artspace • BAVPA • Woodlawn Row Houses • fixBuffalo flickr
Creative Class • Shrinking Cities • Saturdays in the Neighborhood

4

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See Shooting Buffalo for more about this series and my flickr for additional pics of Buffalo, NY. I'm collecting this daily series of pics - here.

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Artspace • BAVPA • Woodlawn Row Houses • fixBuffalo flickr
Creative Class • Shrinking Cities • Saturdays in the Neighborhood

3

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See Shooting Buffalo for more about this series and my flickr for additional pics of Buffalo, NY. I'm collecting this daily series of pics - here.

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Artspace • BAVPA • Woodlawn Row Houses • fixBuffalo flickr
Creative Class • Shrinking Cities • Saturdays in the Neighborhood

2

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See Shooting Buffalo for more about this series and my flickr for additional pics of Buffalo, NY. I'm collecting this daily series of pics - here.

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Artspace • BAVPA • Woodlawn Row Houses • fixBuffalo flickr
Creative Class • Shrinking Cities • Saturdays in the Neighborhood

1

click image to enlarge

See Shooting Buffalo for more about this series and my flickr for additional pics of Buffalo, NY. I'm collecting this daily series of pics - here.

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Artspace • BAVPA • Woodlawn Row Houses • fixBuffalo flickr
Creative Class • Shrinking Cities • Saturdays in the Neighborhood

Shooting Buffalo

While figuring out what to do next with my blog - as the primary reason for blogging about the City has now literally been sent to a landfill, here - I'll be posting a daily pic of the City. I carry a p/s camera with me all the time and have been inspired recently by Capturing the City - a very cool photo essay - that appeared in the New York Times the other day. Sean from one of the continent's most amazing photo collectives - Toronto's DK Photo Group - turned me on to the Big Picture from the Boston Globe. I dip into that on a regular basis for additional perspectives.

I'll be collecting these daily shots in my flickr stream and will add a slide shows and videos of the City along the way.

So, before the summer comes to an end I'll have a post-mortem on the Woodlawn Row Houses, or not.

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Artspace • BAVPA • Woodlawn Row Houses • fixBuffalo flickr
Creative Class • Shrinking Cities • Saturdays in the Neighborhood