BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — In reviewing his City of Buffalo-maintained calendar, the 7 News I-Team has discovered Mayor Byron Brown has been interviewed, as part of the third-party investigation into the state's response to the deadly Christmas blizzard.
The mayor's calendar shows the interview was scheduled for March 30, 2023. That's about three months after the blizzard. The calendar shows this was scheduled as a two-hour meeting.
Brown's calendar has this listed as an "informational interview" with Guidehouse, the firm picked to investigate the state's response.
A spokesman for the mayor told 7 News I-Team investigator Ed Drantch, this was in fact an interview about the storm response. A spokesman told the I-Team, "Mayor responded to all of their questions..."
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Last Friday, Governor Kathy Hochul told the 7 News I-Team, that the third-party storm investigation was late and expected out within two weeks.
Guidehouse was selected by New York State to conduct this investigation without a public bidding process. There was no request for proposals, despite the governor saying there would be an RFP put out for an independent investigation.
The state says this was not to exceed a total cost of about $550,000.
Seven months have passed since that blizzard killed 47 people in Western New York.
New York University has already released its storm investigation that was critical of the City of Buffalo.
In a statement to 7 News on Thursday, a spokesperson from the governor's office said "A few days ago, Governor Hochul said this report will be released by August 11th and we are still on track to meet that deadline."
