Next Wednesday, March 30, at 6pm, Buffalo ReUse will be part of a discussion at Medaille College about “Leadership in WNY”.

Some points of discussion:

• What goals for community improvement do you and your organization(s) work to achieve? How do these help contribute to building a civic and sustainable future for Buffalo and the region?
• Why do you work toward these goals? What is it about Buffalo’s history that makes these goals important? What is it about Buffalo’s history that makes these goals achievable?
• What perceptions of (or stories about) Buffalo and the region can sometimes be obstacles or barriers to reaching these goals?
• What opportunities and conditions exist to help you and your organization(s) realize these goals?
• Why should students learn to “read” and “engage” in writing the story of their community? What can they do to contribute to the long, hard work of building civic and sustainable communities? In what ways is personal success only meaningful in the context of community?
• What are the personal challenges and rewards of actively engaging in your community and working to make it a better place?

Medaille Website

At Buffalo ReUse, we've received tremendous help from our AmeriCorps workers over the years. Now, some in Congress want to completely defund our national service program.

Our own Amanda Alessandra, who did her AmeriCorps service in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, received this message and request for help from Change.org:

Help reach 100,000 signatures to save AmeriCorps Dear Amanda, In the dead of night on Saturday, a Tea Party-driven group of House members voted to kill AmeriCorps, completely eliminating all funding. With a potential government shutdown looming on March 4th, the fate of 85,000 AmeriCorp community organizers, teachers, and tutors will now be decided by the U.S. Senate. After hearing the shocking news, former AmeriCorps volunteer Caleb Jonas decided he had to do something. From a coffee shop in Massachusetts, Caleb logged in to Change.org from his laptop and created a petition asking Congress to "Save AmeriCorps." Caleb’s inspiring action has already been signed by more than 90,000 Americans. Thank you for adding your signature to Caleb's "Save AmeriCorps" petition. We're closing in on 100,000 signatures — a huge statement at this pivotal moment — and we need your urgent help to make this critical goal. Please forward this email and ask friends and family to add their names to Caleb’s "Save AmeriCorps" petition and help him reach 100,000 signatures to the Senate ASAP. Why does Caleb care so much about AmeriCorps? Because he spent a year improving the quality of tutoring programs for low-income kids in Minnesota — and witnessed AmeriCorps members build houses for Habitat for Humanity, help political refugees start new lives, improve reading test scores for elementary school students, and help disadvantaged high school students get into college. As Caleb told us over the phone, it breaks his heart that this vital national service program could be shut down at a time when people in the most marginalized communities in America need it the most. That’s why Caleb was inspired to start his "Save AmeriCorps" petition — and why AmeriCorps supporters are sharing it on Facebook and forwarding messages like this to their friends around the country. With AmeriCorps on the chopping block, it’s time for all of us to stand up for Caleb and thousands of other volunteers who have committed years of their lives to community service. Please forward this email to friends and family and ask them to join you in telling the Senate not to kill AmeriCorps:  http://www.change.org/petitions/save-americorps?alert_id=TdPLdiPsal_PKxVyTFVIG&me=aa Thank you for joining Caleb and Change.org members across our country fighting to save AmeriCorps before it’s too late. - Patrick and the Change.org team P.S.  A coalition of grassroots organizations are planning a "Save Service District Day" for this Friday, where supporters of AmeriCorps and National Service will visit local House and Senate offices to ask members of Congress to save funding for crucial service programs. Click here to get involved in actions near you:  http://www.saveservice.org/

Starting next Tuesday, November 16th there will be a series of three public meetings to inform city residents about the new zoning code that the City of Buffalo is going to create over the next couple years.

As stated from the Buffalo Green Code website;

The new Buffalo Green Code will be the first opportunity Buffalonians have had in nearly sixty years to establish a new regulatory framework for the development of our neighborhoods.

Zoning is the tool by which we build our communities.  It determines what gets built and where.  It’s essentially Buffalo’s DNA.  The process to re-imagine the city’s future and write a code that matches the community’s vision will be an exciting opportunity for the people of Buffalo.  As this process gets rolled out, over a period of three years of serious work, encouraged that all citizens in every section of the city participate and take an active role.

If you do not know what zoning is, the question and answer section of the green codes website does a decent job covering the topic.  It definitely is a very important tool in creating and maintaining cities and is going to be a key part to Buffalo’s accrued success moving forward.

We have one of the most friendliest and enthusiastic cities out there and it shows as you walk up and down the streets of Buffalo, no matter what neighborhood you are in.  So please come out and continue the support and give your input on our City’s own future.  If you want something done you have to go out and do it.  Things don’t happen on their own. So come out and have a say next week, there will be three different meetings that are held to provide Buffalonian’s an opportunity to have a say in our promising future we all have known this City is capable of.

Tuesday, November 16th, 7pm.   Central Public Meeting

Buffalo Musuem of Science. 1020 Humboldt Parkway, Buffalo, NY,  14211

Wednesday, November 17th, 7pm.  North Region Public Meeting

Bennett High School. 2885 Main Street, Buffalo Ny 14214

Thursday, November 18th, 7pm.   South Region Public Meeting

Tosh Collins Community Center. 35 Cazenovia St. Buffalo NY 14210

Keep up with the Buffalo Green Code’s development by becoming a fan of their facebook page and signing up for the website’s newsletter. Issue #1 is already out. Follow this link to read more.

Just passing this along from Linda at the Board of Block Clubs. It’s important to be a GOOD LANDLORD.

CITY OF BUFFALO
LANDLORD TRAINING
Friday, November 5
8:30am – 4:30pm
At Belmont Shelter Corporation
1195 Main Street
At the corner of Dodge

If you are a landlord or considering property management, don’t miss the opportunity to learn valuable information such as

• eviction proceedings
• mold prevention
• lead poisoning prevention
• funding sources
• housing court procedure
• the role of the police
• inspection procedures
• detecting drug activity on your property
• crime prevention techniques
• fair housing
• rental assistance corporation, belmont resources
• social service information
• leases and the best tenant selection processes

To register, please visit the City of Buffalo’s website.

Governance for a NEW New York
The Coalition for Economic Justice to host State Senate Candidates Forum

What: An opportunity for the Buffalo public to interface directly with the State Senate Candidates in Erie County (58th, 59th, 60th and 61st districts) and to seek insight regarding candidates’ plans for the state.
When: Thursday July 29th, 2010 at 5:30p.m
Where: Allen Hall Theatre University at Buffalo – South Campus
Who: Coalition for Economic Justice, State Senate Candidates, Community, Faith, and Labor Leaders.
Why: The elections for State Senate will be held on November 2nd. CEJ seeks to promote opportunities for citizens to meet and learn more about the candidates that will directly affect the residents of Erie County and its communities. This forum will provide concerned citizens with a chance to hear directly from the candidates and to foster a dialogue between community members and elected officials.

The Coalition for Economic Justice and our allies are interested in how the candidates plan on addressing some of the major issues impacting the greater Buffalo area: sound economic growth and development, public accountability for government and enterprise, and providing good jobs to residents.

A message from Jason Crane, executive director of the New York Bicycling Coalition (and Green Options Buffalo):
New York State’s ‘Complete Streets’ Bill Is In Jeopardy—We Need Your Help!

TAKE ACTION:
We’re asking you to make one phone call, with a one-sentence appeal: “Please amend the ‘complete streets’ bill (Assembly Bill 8587-a) so that it matches the version passed in the Senate on June 17.”
Assemblyman David Gantt’s contact info:
District Office: 585-454-3670
Albany Office: 518-455-5606
GanttD {at} assembly.state.ny(.)us

(June 22, 2010) — In Albany, bicycling advocates are working overtime to help assure the passage of a Complete Streets law—sweeping legislation that will create more livable, bikeable and walkable communities across the state. This proposed law would direct the state Department of Transportation to consider bicycle and pedestrian accommodations in the planning and development of state, county, and local roads and other transportation facilities. NYBC is working closing with the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, AARP and other groups to get this legislation passed.

On June 17, the Senate passed the bill 53-3. Unfortunately, Assemblyman David Gantt of Rochester has amended the Assembly version of the bill in a way that would render the legislation nearly useless. Assemblyman Gantt’s amended bill covers only state roads, meaning that more than 90% of the roads in New York State would not be covered by the law. Additionally, of the 21 most dangerous roads in the state, as defined in a recent study by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, only 6 would be covered under Assemblyman Gantt’s amended version of the law.

The only way to get this process back on track is if we can get bicycling advocates — particularly those in Rochester, where Assembly Gantt is based — to make their voices heard!
Thank you for supporting Complete Streets in New York State!
Sincerely,
Jason Crane
Executive Director
New York Bicycling Coalition

It has been announced that President Barack Obama will be visiting Buffalo next Thursday as part of his “Main Street Tour.” Of course, we at Buffalo ReUse are more than eager to host the President for a short visit. We have sent out letters to everyone and anyone we can think of, but if you have some kind of insider connection or pull, or you’re actually Obama’s third cousin twice removed, please consider helping us make this dream a reality!!

Buffalo ReUse is eager to share vision and accomplishments for green job creation, social entrepreneurship, and community regeneration with the President.  Since our inception in 2007, we have worked tirelessly to create Buffalo ReUse because of our unyielding desire to improve the City of Buffalo, our passion and hope for livable communities, and our belief in the unique capacity of young adults in forging solutions to rebuild our communities for the future. We have leveraged the unique assets of our region to address the most pressing needs of our neighborhoods, and while our region is unique, we believe that our ideas can be implemented in many communities all throughout the country.

If you have friends in high places, please help us use this unprecedented opportunity to share our entrepreneurial ideas that can play a critical role in regenerating neighborhoods and creating more green and local jobs in the years to come.

I want to be some where else right now. I want to be in Cocodrie, Louisiana. Six years ago, I was fortunate enough to participate in a photographic field study through LUMCON and saw first hand how vulnerable our Gulf Coast and wetlands are.
I want to be there now to document what is happening and lend a hand. The best I can do is try to make others aware of the treasures we will lose and ask folks to do what they can to prevent further erosion and devastation of the coast.

Unless you have lived in Louisiana, I think it’s hard to understand the pride and affection many people feel for the region. There are very few, and perhaps no other places in America as unique–the landscape, their livelihood, the cuisine, the hospitality and even the flair of their language is all woven together. The culture in southern Louisiana has seen many perils–long before Katrina.

The population of Louisiana has swelled, shifted and shriveled at times because of the Mississippi River’s unpredictable flood path. Louisiana has been ravaged by cattlemen, oil speculators, the petroleum industry and trade routes cutting straight through the wetlands from Florida to Texas, and of course, hurricane Katrina most recently. But The Mississippi Delta deposits into the Gulf Coast and as a result, back in the 50s the Delta became saturated with DDT which ran off into the river from the farms hundreds of miles upstream. The cumulative effect of the toxins traveling to the Gulf Coast resulted in polluted water and fish absorbing (and holding) the poison in their fat cells. Consequently, the entire population of brown pelicans in Louisiana was lost–why? Because the DDT the pelicans absorbed from the fish they ate prevented the pelican eggshells from ever hardening. No protective shell meant no viable pelican chicks which means no pelicans.  The reason brown pelicans still exist in Louisiana today is because an eccentric artist from Mississippi, Walter Anderson, was documenting their decline and sent up red flags.  He was instrumental in proving DDT should be banned… and later, the State of Mississippi gave Louisiana some of their brown pelicans and they eventually repopulated the coast.  What other species have we compromised?  What else have we already lost?

The eco-system off the coast has been devastated several times and LUMCON has been documenting, researching and trying to prevent further decline of the barrier islands, but with this recent oil disaster, it may be too overwhelming.  The barrier islands are surrounded by salt water and have their own fragile eco-system.  When they were first explored, they were actually connected to the mainland at several points, but over time the erosion caused them to separate.  200yrs ago the islands were a resort for the wealthy.  Now, you can only go there if you’re conducting research.  The islands still exist as an important speed bump slowing down and/or preventing the salt-water infiltration which would destroy the animals and plants living in the fresh water wetlands–a number of birds, mammals, plants, insects and seafood like oysters, crawfish, shrimp, and a multitude of fish that the coastal residents depend on.  The barrier islands have also become nurseries for several species of coastal birds.
The crude oil spill will destroy both the salt water habitat and the fresh water habitat, not to mention the air and land pollution which we will have to deal with.

What part of this is on our shoulders?  Do we demand congress have stricter protocols for oil drilling?  How do we make the corporations accountable to both prevent and cleanup accidents?  A lot of that is beyond my means, but the bottom line is we have to use less oil. We have to become more conservative about fuel consumption.  Even though oil speculators have found sources to drill off the coasts of Alaska, Africa and Brazil–I don’t want to contribute to their loss of resources or ecology.  The costs become too high–to both our budget and our environment.  Very few of us can go down to the coast and scoop up oil or wash pelicans, but we can all minimize our need for oil.  We can all adopt and promote alternative energies–maybe biofuels, recycled french fry grease–totally, solar–definitely, lipids–I mean the kind in our thighs–could work too.  I saw a cyclist’s bumper sticker that read, BURN FAT, NOT FOSSIL FUEL.
I, for one, have a lot of lipids at my disposal… How about you?

Last night I watched Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story. I have seen most of his films and I always think there are a ton of though-provoking points that somehow get glossed over or ignored by the movie reviewers and pundits. I heard almost nothing about this movie when it came out, except the usual critics dismissing Moore as a crackpot.  Moore even used a recent incident in Buffalo to drive home one of his examples of capitalism’s failures that resulted in tragedy. But Moore made me aware of something that I never learned in school. You may be saying, “Big surprise, you missed something in school–textbooks are notorious for sanitizing or omitting or altering facts in history” True, but I took all my History and Civics classes seriously and even took AP Government and AP US History and no one ever mentioned anything to me about the 2nd Bill of Rights. Most of us remember the tenets of our first Bill of Rights, namely, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” but this other suggested set were completely new to me.
Since my involvement in the nonprofit world, I have come to know about them through networking with other nonprofit groups and learning the ways in which our missions overlap, especially in the areas of social justice (CEJ & PUSH & PPG), but no one has ever specifically mentioned them in context of a Bill of Rights.

I remember very little about FDR. I remember that he was our longest running president, he died in office and he created jobs for artists and others in a time where no jobs existed, he got through the Great Depression.  In that historical context, FDR drafting another set of rights–an Economic Bill of Rights made perfect sense.  Here they are:

• The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
• The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
• The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
• The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
• The right of every family to a decent home;
• The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
• The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
• The right to a good education.

Wow.  These seem so simple, why do they sound so revolutionary?  Don’t these seem like rights we already believe we are entitled to? and this was six decades ago.  If our government did actually work toward securing these basic rights for citizens–how different would our nation be?  Roosevelt drafted these to ensure equality in our individual pursuits of happiness–because people who are desperately trying to survive–are not truly free.

We ask that you direct your members to our petition

There is an urgent need to renew funding for air monitoring in Tonawanda. Current funding is set to expire in April and though the DEC has tentatively committed to extend funding past that date there must be a long term guarantee for this vital information. The Tonawanda Community Air Quality Study was initiated in July 2007 to evaluate air pollutant concentrations in the industrial area of Tonawanda.  The monitoring allowed DEC to calculate annual average ambient air concentrations, characterize the risk from specific air pollutants in the community, and evaluate the data with wind direction information.

The monitoring found five hazardous air pollutants in excess of the state’s annual concentration guidelines, including two human carcinogens: benzene and formaldehyde. Since this discovery, the Clean Air Coalition has taken steps to alleviate these risks to human health, most notably the campaign that culminated with an EPA, DEC, and US Coast Guard led raid on Tonawanda Coke and the ensuing arrest of Mark Kamholz, the Environmental Control Manager of the company. Clearly the air monitoring in Tonawanda has been essential to identifying polluters and ensuring regulatory action is taken to protect human health.

Key points from the sign-on letter:

·         We fully support and applaud the DEC’s air monitoring work in Tonawanda to date.

·         Discontinuing air monitoring in Tonawanda would send the wrong signal to polluters, namely that they are no longer being watched.

·         The DEC, EPA, and community will have no way of measuring progress without air monitoring in Tonawanda.

·         Should the DEC require financial assistance to continue air monitoring it could consider a partnership with the EPA through the Healthy Community Initiative that has designated $6 million toward improving air toxins monitoring.

·         The DEC should make a commitment to funding the air monitoring in Tonawanda at least through the end of 2012.