Assemblyman Mark J. F. Schroeder said Wednesday he is considering a run for Buffalo comptroller this fall.

The South Buffalo Democrat becomes the highest-profile candidate yet to express interest in the city’s top fiscal post, which has been vacant since Andrew A. SanFilippo resigned earlier this year.

“I have begun over the past five or six days to take a look at this,” Schroeder said. “We—the Legislature — incorporated the City of Buffalo in 1832, and I’m very interested in preserving it.”

Schroeder, who has served three years in the County Legislature and seven in the Assembly, said the upcoming reapportionment process and his rocky relationship with Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, do not influence his potential candidacy for comptroller.

He said he met Wednesday with Assemblyman John J. McEneny, D-Albany, who is involved in redistricting, to discuss the process and made a strong case for a district he said has a long history in the South Buffalo area.

“I’m not afraid of redistricting at all,” he said, adding that he does not believe any Erie County Democrat would relish the prospect of challenging him for the Assembly.

Still, Schroeder is now eyeing City Hall and the comptroller’s position, hinting that he may resurrect discussions about regionalism originally championed by former County Executive Joel A. Giambra when he was city comptroller.

He emphasized, however, he would approach the issue in a far different manner than the former Republican county executive.

“The comptroller in this time could be in a position to offer real ideas,” he said. “And the question should be: Do we actually need an Erie County comptroller and a Buffalo city comptroller?”

Though Schroeder brings high name recognition to a potential comptroller candidacy, he may not be alone. Other Democrats expressing interest include County Legislature Majority Leader Maria R. Whyte; Darryl McPherson, the city’s chief auditor and the former legal counsel to Buffalo’s control board; and Aaron B. Siegel, president and CEO of Franklin Asset Management, a downtown investment firm.

Still, he would be considered the best-known candidate with his own political operation and ability to raise funds. He said he is most interested in finding ways to save the city money in the way it issues general obligation bonds and thinks he can find new ways of marketing city bonds.

Schroeder said he has not spoken about his potential candidacy with Erie County Democratic Chairman Leonard R. Lenihan but says he will when his plans solidify. Still, he says he finds the process inherently “unfair” because the endorsement for the city post is controlled by the party’s suburban-dominated Executive Committee.

“I just think it is not a fair process,” he said. “The Buffalo committeemen and women ought to have a chance to weigh in.”

Schroeder said he realizes that designating petitions will hit the streets in early June at the latest, and he expects to arrive at a decision on his own candidacy within the next few days.

rmccarthy@buffnews.comnull