The state assembly members that are prodding the control board to lift the wage freeze clearly are ignoring the fact that it is because of their inaction and their continued ignorance is the reason we have a control board and the wage freeze cannot be lifted.

    Buffalo Control board won’t thaw on wage freeze

    Some state lawmakers have prodded the city control board to lift the wage freeze - and soon.

    But board Chairman Brian J. Lipke made it clear in a recent letter to lawmakers that the wage freeze will stay in place until unions agree to cut costs.

    Lipke also stressed that the state must play a key role in restoring fiscal stability to the city. Officials in Albany must either make sweeping changes in state laws to allow for “meaningful union negotiations,” or give Buffalo increasing pots of aid each year, he said .

I seriously doubt these 4 will do anything close to “sweeping changes” in Albany especially after these 4 just voted for the 1.7 Billion that was earmarked to the unions. What they will do is attempt to send more pots of money so their union collegues won’t get angry with them. Of course the increasing pots of aid will come from the taxpayers

    “To sum it up, the future is in your hands,” Lipke wrote to four Democratic members of the local state delegation.

    These same lawmakers sent Lipke a letter in late June, expressing concern over a wage freeze that has been in place since April 2004.

    Assembly Majority Leader Paul A. Tokasz of Cheektowaga, and Buffalo Democrats Mark J.F. Schroeder, Sam Hoyt and Crystal D. Peoples said they recognize the city faces fiscal challenges.

    “However, we believe that city workers have contributed their fair share to your effort of achieving long term stability and that it is time you recognized their effort,” they wrote. The lawmakers acknowledged that there’s still work to do to on the city’s fiscal front.

    “We stand ready to continue to help you in this effort but must insist that some consideration be given to lifting the wage freeze in the near future,” they wrote.

    Lipke’s response wasn’t what lawmakers wanted to see, said Schroeder, calling the five-page letter “disappointing.”

    “I think the letter was adversarial. It didn’t address what we asked,” he said.

    The lawmakers were pressing the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority to set a time line for lifting the wage freeze.

I think they answered your question, they said change things in Albany and guess what, you people are Albany, but so is your boss Sheldon Silver.

Set a time line? How on earth can you set a time line until these 4 jokers go back to Albany… ooops, Tokash isn’t going back and word has it neither will Hoyt, but I digress. Anyway, the control board has their hands tied, they cannot just lift the wage freeze or do anything until Albany does something, so we are at a standstill at this point, unless the unions take things into their own hands and give something up….. but they will scream genocide and cry because they haven’t had a pay raise in years.

The people of Buffalo and Erie County would like a raise and the only way they can get one is by the government, state, local and schools to cut costs and yes that includes the unions. A reduction in our tax burden is the only way we can see a raise. At the rate budgets grow we are continually working for a loss. If people are lucky enough to get a payraise the cost of government and our taxes are higher so we loose money every year.

    He pointed to a tentative agreement that resulted in the control board last week agreeing to lift the wage freeze for about 220 summer food service workers in the school district. The pact would raise the part-time workers’ hourly wage by 25 cents to $8.50 in return for giving up perfect attendance bonuses.

Look at that, the people that get the least are willing to give up some of what they get, what about the rest of you. This is called giving a little to get a little something that all to many are adverse to doing.

    Givebacks are essential, Lipke said, stressing that even with the wage freeze, city spending will increase by 9 percent this year.

    In his letter, he reminded lawmakers state laws leave the city powerless to restructure expired union pacts. “As a result, unheard of benefits and practices get perpetuated, costs spiral upward, and taxpayers continue to pay more money for fewer service delivery personnel,” Lipke wrote.

    He pointed to projected city budget gaps that grow to nearly $39 million by 2010, and gaps that approach $99 million for the school district.

    Schroeder said in light of the control board’s continued resistance to lifting the wage freeze, the state delegation needs to consider “a whole new set of directives.”

    He wouldn’t specify whether future actions might include sponsorship of state legislation that would call for weakening the powers of the control board.


Yes now we are getting to the meat of these brave souls response with Schroeder leading the pack. Let’s weaken their ability to do anything meaningful like get Buffalo back on track financially. They could care less how the people of this area are surviving. Because of their inaction, their out right refusal to do anything in Albany but to help their union buddies and to hell with the taxpayers that have to foot the bill.

A 99 Million dollar gap with the school budget??? What…
Buffal city schools cost us 3/4 of a billion dollars. that’s 750 Million dollars and the state using our money just gave them more yet we are looking at another hole of 99 Million, this is disgusting and we wonder why people are yelling for Charter Schools. The Buffalo school system is a complete failure and we continue to dump money into it. $39 Million for the city, ya, just lift the wage freeze and give them what they want…. give us a break would you.