COUNCIL PRESIDENT FRANCZYK REPORTS ADMINISTRATION LATE WITH ANNUAL SNOW PLAN...HOYT PUSHING HIGH SPEED RAIL SERVICE BETWEEN TORONTO, BUFFALO, NYC

By law the Mayor of Buffalo is supposed to submit a "Snow Plan" to the Common Council every year by Nov. 1 which is supposed to outline its program for cold, wet, white stuff removal in the coming year. And, the Brown Administration did so in 2006 and 2007 right on time. However, it did not offer one in Nov., 2008 and has still not, leading Common Council President Dave Franczyk to speculate about possible problems the city's snow removal regime might be running into.

"They were supposed to take members of the Common Council on a snow plow tour of the city so we could get an idea of what their snow plan is like for this year," President Franczyk points out. "But, it was cancelled and I know they haven't submitted their snow plan yet. It seems likely that they are having a hard time putting their plan together. I know they've lost some experienced personnel and they have

some less experienced people working there. I also think possibly that they have some people working on garbage collection who should be working on snow removal and possibly these factors have contributed to the problems they have faced recently."

Still, President Franczyk does not want to be too quick to criticize the Brown Administration on this score too quickly.

"I really don't want to be too critical because I know they are working hard to solve these problems," he explains. "I have talked to Commissioner Steve Stepniak and I know they are doing all they can. So I am hoping to see their snow plan soon."

Moving on to other matters, the Common Council President and Fillmore District Councilman believes that the Mayor and his people have made some progress on the economic development front, though he adds that there is a lot more to be done.

"I think they've done some good things," he adds, "and I feel I have developed a productive relationship with Economic Development Commissioner Brian Reilly on working to improve things at the Broadway Market and I want to continue to do so."

HIGH SPEED RAIL FOR NEW YORK?

Assemblymember Sam Hoyt is actively promoting a truly visionary plan to bring high speed rail service to the Toronto/Buffalo/Albany/Big Apple Corridor. Sure it would be a big project. But, aren't large public endeavors often undertake in the middle of recessions?

"Many of our most ambitious public projects were undertaken during the Depression," he recalls. "Japan has high speed rail. Europe has high speed rail. The Governor of California has recent proposed a high speed rail system for his state. It would be a great economic engine that would create jobs and bring new business to our area. Right now, by law, trains can only go a maximum of 79 miles an hour. High speed railroad trains can go twice that fast.. Imagine getting to New York City in as little as 4 hours or more. It would be great for the upstate economy."