BUFFALO, N.Y. — There are four candidates vying the Democratic line in Buffalo’s newly drawn Ellicott common council district.
Like the rest of the city, the district is heavily Democratic but also oddly shaped and socioeconomically diverse, covering parts of downtown, the Elmwood Village and East Buffalo.
Leah Halton-Pope is the senior advisor to New York State Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes and has the support of outgoing Ellicott representative and Common Council President Darius Pridgen. In her decade working for Peoples-Stokes, she says she’s helped write numerous laws on her behalf, including the Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act, which legalized recreational cannabis in New York and aimed to ensure disenfranchised people and communities benefited from the new industry.
“I think that’s why I’m uniquely placed to run for this seat,” she said. “I’m doing it because there’s a lot of great things that are happening in Ellicott and as I said before, the district itself is very reflective of the city of Buffalo and frankly the state of New York in its diversity.”
Cedric Holloway recently retired as commander of the SWAT team after more than three decades serving with the Buffalo Police. Holloway has also been an active community advocate and continues to volunteer as director at the Johnny B. Wiley Sports Pavillion.
“As a police officer, 33 years, I’ve seen every part of this city and I’ve dealt with every socioeconomic portion of it so I’m able to relate in all areas because I know exactly what their issues are,” he said.
Matt Dearing worked on congressional campaigns for Nate McMurray and as director of community relations for state Assemblyman Pat Burke, ultimately leaving last year with two other staffers following a disagreement over the response to the May 14 Tops massacre. Dearing said he grew up in the district and has seen up close the ways in which communities have been left behind.
“People are excited to see a new voice, a younger voice who’s got serious ideas and is looking down the road, 50, 60 years down the future in figuring out how we can lay a foundation in Buffalo that can withstand the tide of new investment and growth that a lot of people are projecting is going to come to this city in the next couple of generations,” he said.
Emin Eddie Egriu has unsuccessfully run for office numerous times dating back to his first council race 24 years ago. Last year, he ran against U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins in a primary after several petition challenges in previous years knocked him off the congressional ballot. Egriu owns a construction business and believes he can take on some of the city’s major projects more cost-effectively and efficiently.
“Everybody knows me in this district. I have the best name recognition out of all of them. They know what I’ve done. I’ve done a lot, especially on Jefferson Avenue from Ferry all the way to South Division,” he said.
The candidates generally agree that affordable housing both to purchase and rent, and community economic development, especially near the Jefferson corridor in the aftermath of the Tops shooting, are among the most important issues this election.
