Councilmember Brian Davis' Bad Week

* Try and find one Allentown resident who has an ounce of respect for him.
* It does not suprise me that he is going to turn this into a "Black" issue. Which is a shame for Buffalo's Afrian American community. Total embarrassment for them.
* Asking people to cancel the news is nothing more than a pathetic attempt to cover his guilt.

It's from the Sarah Palin playbook: blame the media. His juvenile language only adds to the sense of desperation.

I am so tired of partisan mudslinging and media bias. But if you are counsilman Davis, why not use facts to refute any false accusations made by the Buffalo News? Playing the race card destroys credibility when you play it in the absence of facts.

1) The article in the news was not slanderous, it would be libel, if anything. I believe the "deadbeat" comment by the News came from a culmination of things, and was never directly related to him as a father.
2) I'm glad he recognizes his "selfish needs." Everything he does is for himself; tax free house, breaking campaign finance laws, etc.
3) His own letter is filled with inaccuracies and grammatical errors.
4) Is this 1943? When was the last time anyone saw a newspaper "agent" standing on a street corner selling a paper? (Not including kids day)
5) Why doesn't he mention that he has missed 1/3 of all meetings held so far in 2009? Good to see hes fighting on behalf of those who live in his district!

If I may steal and modify a line from the police chief of Malibu: "Stay out of city government deadbeat! I dont want to catch your ugly, goldbricking a$$ in my city hall again."

Very sad to see Mr. Davis play the race card on this one. Rather than hurt our towns already strained race relations, he should have defended himself by disputing the News so calld falce allegations about his bad credit.

I just lost the little bit of respect that I had for Brian Davis. What a tool!

This guy is so out-of-touch with reality...WOW! And to pull the race card was the last-ditch attempt by a desparate man. Very sad indeed.

I cannot believe that Brian Davis has the nerve to send a message using facebook, which is replete with misspellings and grammatical errors, while saying that everyone is persecuting him, because he's black. SHAME ON YOU, BRIAN! You had a chance to redeem yourself, but you BLEW IT! Whatever your race, I don't think that anyone could ever muster any respect or support for you to hold any elected office.

Brian Davis is an embarrassment to the City of Buffalo. His actions in recent months are a disgrace, and now on top of everything he responds to the accusations that are being made against him with a Facebook message, a very poorly written Facebook message?! If he is so concerned about the accuracy of the Buffalo News article then why hasn't he spoken out to the media to set the story straight? Instead, he is pointing fingers at everyone else and turning this into an "black" issue. Brian Davis needs to get some ba**s, and fess up to his mistakes. All he has done at this point is teach his children, his "pride and joy," that when something goes wrong you should turn and run the other way, or just pull out the race card.

Dear Mr. Davis
Pay your bills.

Thank God this loser is on his way out. I’m an investor in his district and he has been useless to me since the day he took office. I wonder if it’s because I’m white; he has a reputation for primarily out African Americans. So who is the racist? I have personally been to countless common council meetings regarding issues in his district, and he was NEVER there. He has a reputation among the council as being absentee. His assistants were equally incompetent. I was repeatedly told by his assistants the Mr. Davis doesn’t take appointments, wtf? I could not get a meeting with this man. However, I have seen him out at bars, minus a wedding band, hmm, family man? I wonder if he remembers a young woman named Mercedes. Funny to see Mr. Davis as part owner of a restaurant / bar, a business associate of mine had approached Mr. Davis about opening a bar in his district, and Mr. Davis said he didn’t think he could support it because there are too many bars / restaurants in the area. Don’t you just love hypocrites? How did he get in office anyway?

"Attacks on my community?" Are you kidding? How about maybe you should be an upstanding responsible citizen and they won't write about you. Demone A Smith, legislator, has a $6k tax lein filed by NYS dept of tax, recorded 2/2/2009. Check the ECClerk public records. Me thinks many politicians have something to hide and just want to continue to get elected on their name with the mayor's support.

I haven't been following this story, but I am disappointed by the childish and poorly written response of this elected representative. We all certainly need to pay more attention to the qualifications and quality of the individuals that are put up for election.

The grammar in his letter just shows you can take the boy out of the projects but you can not take the project out of the boy.

Shows how stupid people are if this is what they choose to elect as a leader. Now wonder why the East Side is in such bad shape.

It reads like a blog comment. One would think he would put just a little more time into crafting his message.

A whole lot of people were fleeced by this guy. His family first, and then all his constituents, and then, even worse, everyone that tried to work with him. I disagree with the comment by Really? re "projects." You're falling right into his trap. I had the plesure of meeting with someone that worked with him for their community and was told that he had been almost invisible for about a year and they were left to their own devices but that they kept moving on. Amazing that these people could do so much without him. They are saddened by all these events and mad, too. Their comment was that he should not hide behind secret messages on facebook and come clean. I agree.

So when Parks Commissioner Joseph Giambra was under investigation a few years back, it was because he was white?

The question becomes how soon can we get him out and who will replace him? First we need someone who pays his or her bills, second we need someone who shows up at meetings and represents us, third we need someone who cares about ALL the constituency in the Ellicott District. Stillwter and One Sunset are only two of his larger lapses in appropriate representation.

Making Ellicott the best district? How do you "re-double" zero effort Brian? Want a good barometer of Davis'"efforts" in his district? Take a walk down Chippewa St. and Pearl towards Shea's during the day and see what kind of effort he has made. What a sad excuse for what is supposed to be Buffalo's entertainment District.

Much has been said and posted regarding Brian Davis. No matter what the underlying issues or truths are, we are saddened by these tragic sets of circumstances and believe that whatever affects one individual also affects the entire community.

I and my neighbors have always worked with solutions-based issue remediation methods. These methods have allowed us to meet with a variety of individuals and departments throughout the City of Buffalo.

When it seemed we were no longer getting a response from Mr. Davis or his office on a variety of issues, as long as the past year or so, we continued to work on the same issues by contacting the departments and all other Common Council members directly. We diligently poured over Council agendas to assure we would not miss an opportunity to have our voices heard regarding issues in our neighborhood.

We had representation as recently as March 24, 2009 and on April 7, 2009 when we addressed issues relating to a lodging house attempt to reopen and the proposed deli on S. Elmwood Avenue during the Legislation Committee meetings.

No, we are not happy with this chain of events regarding Mr. Davis, but we continue to work within the community to assure that, no matter whether or not we have representation by our Councilmember, we keep our needs for our community on the front burner.

Our apologies for taking so long with this response but, in applying the principles of due diligence, we waited until more information could become available. As we are not in receipt of further information, we feel it is time to provide a statement from our community organization in the Ellicott District.

Marilyn Rodgers
West Village Renaissance Group

Thank you for the apology, Marilyn. But the late response had been my point. You and the WVRG have a tremendous record of noble community activism. But the issue I’m raising is that when the community needed to do something about the gross abuse of power that Mr. Davis was doing to force the S. Elmwood deli down neighborhood’s throat, the community needed to do something. You more than many know the disastrous effects that delis operated in such a manner can have. However, the time for waiting for more information to act passed long before the scathing expose in the News that has made it politically comfortable to call out Davis on this issue. The neighborhood was supplied with enough information to know how wrong what his office was trying to do was. Knowing is not enough. Observing is not enough. Action needs to be taken on issues like these; neighborhood activism cannot afford to be diluted by politics. Communities need to be put first, not individuals and their allegiances. And so when Trezevant was organizing efforts in the neighborhood on how to defend against Davis and the deli, I saw true leadership from him, while others were content to remain on the sidelines, silent.

Marilyn. I am happy to see that you are on board now and willing to be publicly against the deli. Are you running against Davis in Ellicott?

One more thing, the most important issue that needs to be addressed, over all others, over the political interplay, over the finger-pointing and who's who is basically this:
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Who is taking care of business in the Ellicott District?

If you are running as a candidate against Davis or in the event of a vacancy, as has been circulating around parts of Ellicott, I’d hope you and the WVRG remember the only one willing to take public action was Attorney Bill Trezevant. I don’t read Nickel City as attacking your record of activism in any way, but to point out where the true, unhindered by politics leadership came from on this issue.

I want to take issue and exception with your broad brush stroke describing potential candidates as merely political and political hacks: Your past Democratic Committeeman days place squarely among the hacks you appear to distain. Oh, you’re in, you’re out and just how many time will you turn, run, and hide?

One additional point: Be careful not to post during working hours, lest someone accuses you of doing non-work related business and politicking from your job; that is if the second floor of City Hall doesn’t make an exception for you.

Sorry to disappoint you, "No Joke," but I only worked a couple of hours yesterday since I have to work a few hours today. No, I know of someone who was publicly ridiculed for using a computer during work hours, such an unfortunate incident.
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As far as Mr. Trezevant is concerned, he has his own way of doing things. Good for him.
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Political hacks? Yes, political hacks. Got out of the political realm a while back due to the bickering and posturing. As I said above, too bad it has to be this way, and you are clearly proving my point, No Joke. I'm sure you'll keep commenting - but will you use your own name?
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Yes, I would love to represent my district on the Council, but how to raise the funds? At this point it seems fruitless. Good way to control the slate - Congrats!
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However, I will continue to work throughout the district, I don't need a title for that or fancy position for that.
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I hope this has become an eye-opener for some that really feel, as I once had, that our election system truly works and that are not aware of what really occurs behind the scenes.
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Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go to work.

WTF!!!! Sure, go ahead and blast someone who has been giving in the past and prescent. At least she addresses the BS head on with her name. Wish she WOULD consider a run.