Kearns claims South District stiffed

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Despite a crumbling fire hall at Seneca and Southside, south Buffalo is not getting a penny of capital improvement money for 2010.

April Duke, President of the south Buffalo Block Club, said, "We need the mayor to answer to the residents of south Buffalo."

Phyllis Manning, a south Buffalo voter, said, "A lot of people here voted for Mayor Brown, ok? We were behind him, and now we don't get anything? You call that fair?"

In an ad in tomorrow's south Buffalo Metro Community News, Council Member Michael Kearns breaks down allocations, zero dollars for South District, while Ellicott and Masten receive millions.

Kearns calls it "an insult to the [south Buffalo] residents."

"I do think it's retribution. To get zero out of a capital budget of almost $18 million? It's unexplainable," said Kearns.

Peter Cutler, the Brown administration spokesman said, "Patently false. Patently false."

The Brown administration says the "money pie" is divided up by the Citizens Planning Council, which presents its recommendations to the Mayor.

"The Mayor's recommended 2010 capital budget is a direct result of a thorough and exhaustive process conducted by the Citizens Planning Council, so when people make statements like that, they're really impugning, really, the people that have worked in this process," explained Cutler.

Kearns said, "I say the Mayor has the ultimate say. He makes the recommendation. It's called the 'Mayor's Recommendation.'"

Peter Cutler, speaking for the Mayor, said a big chunk of money for the Masten District will go to restore Martin Luther King Park, designed by Olmsted.

But Kearns says the South District is only district in the city that does not have a new police and fire station.