Before the next Bills stadium lease agreement gets a vote from the Erie County Legislature, the public will have the chance to weigh in on it.
Legislators unanimously adopted a resolution Thursday that would allow for at least three public hearings to be held prior to a Legislature vote on a stadium lease agreement. The governing body would also have 30 days to review any draft lease agreement.
The adopted resolution is meant to prevent the county administration from submitting lease agreement documents at the last minute and seeking Legislature approval the same day without any public input, which is what occurred the last time around.
The Republican-supported minority caucus had sought a 90-day public comment period after the lease agreement was submitted to the Legislature and a requirement that all public hearings be completed 10 days prior to any Legislature vote on the matter.
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The Democratic majority amended the resolution so that at least some of the public hearings could be held prior to a tentative lease agreement being finalized so that there's a greater chance that public interests could be incorporated into the agreement the Legislature is asked to review. The hearings would be held at each of SUNY Erie's three community college campuses. All hearings would be held after 6 p.m.
Once a draft agreement is submitted to the Legislature, the Legislature would have 30 days, instead of 90, to review the documents before being required to take a vote.
"A lengthy delay in reviewing this contract could cause the Bills to potentially leave Buffalo," said Legislator John Gilmour, D-Hamburg. "The NFL wants out of Buffalo. I think the Pegulas are the only people that are keeping it here. I think 30 days is plenty of time, that we can set aside the time to get the work done."
Though several minority caucus legislators objected to the amendment and said the time frame was too short, they voted for the overall resolution.
Paul Wolf, president of the New York Coalition on Open Government, praised the Legislature's effort to include citizens in the decision-making process.
"This is important that the public have the right to be heard on this issue," he said. "I'm glad that there was unanimously support for it. Now, hopefully, we can get the State Legislature to do the same."
The last time a stadium lease agreement came before the County Legislature for approval, County Executive Mark Poloncarz and former Bills CEO Russ Brandon appeared before legislators in January 2013 for a work session to discuss the terms and cost of the agreement, which would require Erie County to earmark roughly $130 million toward a stadium renovation.
But the Legislature never got a copy of that stadium lease agreement – a set of eight different agreements associated with the stadium lease – until March. The Legislature was then expected to approve the stadium deal the same day, which it did by unanimous vote. No public hearings were held.
Legislators on both sides of the aisle expressed concerns about all the stadium terms being hammered out in secrecy and, potentially, being rushed through an approval process like last time.
