Brown points finger at Common Council amid growing calls for an investigation into Buffalo's Rescue Plan program

BUFFALO, N.Y. — There is a growing call for a formal investigation into the way the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) rollout was handled by the City of Buffalo.

University District Councilmember Rasheed N.C. Wyatt has filed a resolution for Monday's council meeting, asking the city comptroller to investigate the entire program.



"I want the comptroller to do their due diligence to find out where we are with this, because people need to be held accountable," said Wyatt. "This was money that was perfectly set up for us to transition and impact our communities, and we didn't do that." Wyatt wouldn't say if he believed if there was fraud committed by anyone in the previous administration who created the mechanism to roll out the ARPA funds, but said "when there's smoke, there's fire.

" Additionally, more advocates and community groups like the Partnership for the Public Good are also calling for an investigation. This isn't the first time they said they have requested one. "As far back as July, 2023 at PPG, we filed a federal complaint to the US Treasury asking for an investigation of how the city was handling or mishandling its art funds," said Andrea Ó Súilleabháin, executive director at the Partnership for the Public Good.

"So the fact that we have ended up here right down to the wire and we still don't have those answers is deeply, deeply disappointing, but it's not surprising. According to PPG, the Department of Treasury never responded to the complaint. Ó Súilleabháin said that several of the non-profit organizations they work with believe that their lack of support for the Brown administration directly impacted whether or not their organization was approved for ARPA funds.

"We were hearing from a lot of partners who were in the application process, and partners were told nonprofits would go in for an interview, and were told you don't need to bother with this application, because you've criticized the mayor in the past, so you're never going to get this funding. Similar to Councilman Wyatt, Ó Súilleabháin didn't say if she believed there was fraud committed within the ARPA program, but believes there was clear mismanagement. "I feel there was intentional misleading of community partners, right from the get-go," Ó Súilleabháin said.

"We heard directly from partners that were told, 'Mayor Brown doesn't like you, so you might as well pull your application, don't bother applying.' That's illegal under federal grant procurement rules. You can't decide things in that way.

" 2 On Your Side caught up with former Mayor Byron Brown in Batavia on Friday. When asked about the current situation regarding the ARPA funds, Brown reiterated that he's "been gone since October." "We put together a plan, working with the council, the council reviewed everything, the council had to vote to approve everything that was in the plan," Brown said.

When repeatedly pressed on the topic by photojournalist Alecia Kaus, Brown repeated his talking point five times. "I take it that's the only answer I'm going to get?" Kaus asked. Brown responded saying, "correct.

" Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon weighed in on the latest developments regarding the Rescue Plan funds on Friday night, adding 39 organizations will receive, or have received, the funds that were approved for them. Scanlon went on to say only one community group wouldn't be getting their approved funds, but didn't confirm which group it was. It is believed that Ujima Theatre Co.

won't be receiving funds according to sources, but members of the Common Council were still working on what could be done. Earlier this week, when the council documents were published for the special session that was set for Thursday, Acting Mayor Scanlon told lawmakers in a letter that the decision to move $19.2M from about 20 different programs was made after a review of the program by Drescher and Malecki, LLC.

Several members of the common council told reporters on Thursday that they were expecting that report from the auditors. Scanlon clarified on Friday night that there is no report. "There's no formal report that exists," Scanlon said.

"They just came in and worked with the Department of Administration and Finance, with the controller's office, things like that, to square things away." For the Common Council, their next regular meeting is set for 2 p.m.

on Monday, Dec. 22. The council is inviting the public to attend.

.