BUFFALO, N.Y. — Historically, the term "three people in the room" usually referred to lawmakers in Albany and the secrecy of what happens behind closed doors.
But a lawsuit filed against the city of Buffalo last month by the New York Coalition for Open Government raises a question about whether meetings between the three-person Board of Review should be open to the public or not.
According to the Buffalo city charter, the Board of Review consists of the mayor, president of the Buffalo Common Council, and city comptroller. The charter states that the three-person board establishes the community salary review commission every four years.
The lawsuit brought forth by the NY Coalition for Open Government alleges that the board violated open meeting laws when they convened by phone in April 2023 to discuss potential members of the commission.
"I find that to be pretty shocking that we can have three elected officials conduct a meeting behind closed doors by phone," said Paul Wolf from the NY Coalition for Open Government (NYCFOG).
Wolf filed the lawsuit on December 20.
On February 1, the city of Buffalo responded to the claims in documents filed with the court.
Supplementing representation by corporation counsel for the city are two attorneys from Phillips Lytle LLP.
In multiple affidavits, Mayor Byron Brown, former council president Darius Pridgen, and city comptroller Barbara Miller-Williams said that corporate counsel for the city provided guidance that open meeting laws did not apply and the three-person group could meet over the phone to discuss the commission appointments.
According to the city's response to the lawsuit, attorneys for the city say that claims made by the NYCFOG are "inherently baseless."
The city continued in their response by saying that the Board of Review "is not among the 11 enumerated boards in Article 18 of the City Charter."
In their response, the city claims every meeting between the mayor, council president, and comptroller would be deemed a public event if the Board of Review was susceptible to open meeting laws.
Regarding the Board of Review, 2 On Your Side talked with newly appointed council president Chris Scanlon about whether or not any formal meetings of the board should be public.
"I think moving down the road, it's probably something we could do," Scanlon said. "I want to be as transparent as possible with the public. I want to collaborate with the public as much as possible."
Scanlon did say he would double-check the legality of making the board of review meetings public.
One aspect that remains unclear is how many decisions are made by the Board of Review.
While the city charter outlines that the three-person board is responsible for creating the salary commission, the charter does not state whether their governing is limited to only that.
The case between the NY Coalition for Open Government and the city of Buffalo is expected back in court on February 6.