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WHY I'M RUNNING

I'm running because I believe that voters deserve an independent choice. Voters deserve the opportunity to elect a representative who is accountable only to the voters and whose actions are not dictated by party bosses or by campaign contributors. I don't believe that candidates who are generated by the political machine which has dominated our government for so long are capable of initiating the era of honest government that we deserve.

I have a vision for Buffalo. Our waterfront is the reason Buffalo exists, yet it is an entirely under-utilized asset. We need to reconnect with our waterfront in a way that stimulates our local economy in a meaningful, long-term way—not by catering to Bass Pro or to other corporations which are by nature designed to suck profits and our tax dollars out of town, or by submitting to a gambling casino, not by means of any quick fix. Our waterfront can be a beautiful place to live and to work and to do business, but it's going to require thoughtful discussion and hard work. Our local economy needs to be the engine which drives the economic development.

But our children are our most precious resource. If we can't reform our school system so that every child receives a quality, free, public education, then we are done, dead in the water. This is the reason cited by so many of the people leaving the city in droves. I can't count the number of times I've heard, “if we can get our kids into such and such a charter school, then we'll stay, but otherwise...”

And the math is simple. Fewer residents means higher tax burdens for those who remain. But people will flock back to this beautiful waterfront city, with its incredible architecture (and so much more) once we can offer quality schools to every family.