Use of city seal at charity event criticized by ethics watchdog panel
Buffalo’s ethics watchdog panel has urged Mayor Byron W. Brown to refrain from using the official city seal for future events that raise money for a charity he created to help promote civic causes.
The Board of Ethics announced that it reached a consensus on a flap that erupted in January. Buffalo attorney Peter
A. Reese lodged complaints about the mayor’s use of the city seal to promote a $35-a-plate luncheon that preceded his State of the City speech. Proceeds went to Brown’s Fund to Advance Buffalo, a nonprofit group he founded to help fund youth programs, scholarships and other community causes.
The fund serves a laudable role, Board of Ethics members said, acknowledging that it is not realistic to erect an “impenetrable wall” between a mayor’s public role and his civic activities.
But in the future, said board member James Magavern, it would be best not to use the city seal for activities that raise funds for an outside entity.
The mayor sent luncheon invitations that displayed the city seal.
“It makes it look like it’s a function of city government,” Magavern said.
Board of Ethics Chairman Douglas Coppola said the mayor deserves credit for partially defusing the controversy when he decided to provide limited free seating for the speech to people who opted not to eat lunch. But Coppola agreed that going forward, it is prudent to avoid using the city seal in conjunction with a nonprofit fund-raiser.
Mayoral spokesman Peter K. Cutler had no comment.
The Board of Ethics has yet to take a position on additional allegations lodged by Reese that Brown used other city resources — including city workers — to stage the event. Board members said they’re awaiting further information from the mayor’s charity before making further determinations.
In March, city Comptroller Andrew A. SanFilippo’s office concluded there was “no fraud, waste or abuse” involved in planning or executing the State of the City speech. Auditors determined that using the city seal or other city resources for a speech that is delivered by mayors each year is “legitimate” even if the activity raised money for a charity. It would be a different story, said SanFilippo, if the proceeds had been channeled into a political campaign fund.
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