Questions continue to swirl over who holds Mayor Byron Brown's campaign manager and campaign spokesperson posts.
Betsey Ball, Brown's deputy mayor and chief of staff, ran the campaign before the mayor lost the primary. Conor Hurley took over as campaign manager in July, but left earlier this month, and it appears Ball has taken over since his departure.
India Walton’s top donors are about as different as Byron Brown’s biggest backers as the candidates are themselves.
Neither Brown or mayoral spokesman Mike DeGeorge are willing to confirm that.
"The plan with Conor was always that he would transition, and we would complete the campaign with our local team and with volunteers and supporters," Brown said.
He said Ball is part of the mix, and she has taken a leave of absence to work on the campaign. But Brown couldn't say for sure when her leave started without checking.
Some 2,000 city workers this week have received a letter from mayoral candidate India Walton reassuring them that none of them, with the possible exception of politically-appointed managers, would lose their jobs if she wins Tuesday's election.
DeGeorge also hedged when asked.
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"I think Betsey remains the senior advisor, and there are other people assisting at the local level," DeGeorge said. "My understanding is she is full-time on the campaign, but I don't know when that started."
DeGeorge, who's in the mayor's inner circle and sometimes doubles as the Police Department's spokesman, said he did not know who the campaign spokesperson is. He said it isn't him.
"There's Betsey and a number of other people that are handling media requests, and sometimes it gets down to me," DeGeorge said.
Ball did not respond to a request for an interview.
In a contest marked by passionate but divided loyalties throughout the city, Walton supporters say carrying their candidate's flag in South Buffalo is a tough assignment.
DeGeorge has, at times, been the media's go-to person on campaign matters, and he releases statements under the "Brown for Mayor" campaign name.
But DeGeorge said he doesn't work for the campaign.
The mayor also couldn't name who the campaign spokesman is, but said it wasn't DeGeorge.
"When the calls come in, we take them and we respond to them," Brown said.
When told it's often DeGeorge reaching out to the media, the mayor hesitated.
"There are people who take the questions other than Mike, and work on the answers and we provide the answers," Brown said.
Jesse Myerson, India Walton's campaign spokesman, claimed it was improper and possibly illegal for Ball to lead Brown's campaign and for DeGeorge to handle campaign communications, unless each has taken a leave of absence.
"From the very top, there is an improper and possibly illegal use of Brown's staff and political staff," Myerson said.
Mark Sommer covers preservation, development, the waterfront, culture and more. He's also a former arts editor at The News.
