BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Some members of the Buffalo Common Council are planning to fight back against a veto by Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown.
Brown shot down a measure approved by the body to limit ticketing by school zone speed cameras to arrival and dismissal times rather than the entire length of a day.
“I don’t believe that people should be ticketed all day when students are safely in the building,” said Common Council President Darius Pridgen.
It will take six votes to overturn the mayor’s veto.
The City of Buffalo activated six cameras in early October, but have now dropped the one outside of Westminster Academy.
Brown tells 7 Eyewitness News the City activated cameras as a safety measure.
“Arrival time is important, dismissal time is very important, but with field trips, with the desire to spread out with COVID-19, with teachers taking kids outside the school, taking kids on field trips, with any kind of extracurricular activity, with parents and administrators coning in and out of school, we thought it was important to keep the school zone program in place all day,”
We followed up with the schools that are part of the current school zone safety program and none are participating in field trips at this time.
Some have claimed this is a money grab attempt by the City of Buffalo, which Brown denies.
“We’re not trying to grab money, we’re trying to keep kids safe.”
Pridgen said the common council is working with the mayor’s administration on a compromise, “That would ensure safety for our students but would also ensure that our constituents are not being overly charged in those zones.”
The body will know by Tuesday whether it has the votes to overturn Brown’s veto.
