DRUG ABUSE DIVISION GETS A REPRIEVE

Buffalo lawmakers voted unanimously Friday to restore eight of 15 positions
targeted for layoff in the Division of Substance Abuse Services, an action
that capped off what some have called the most painful city budget struggle
in decades.

When the new fiscal year begins Monday, the unit that provides counseling
to drug abusers will remain in existence. The division is being
restructured in a way that advocates claim will make it self-sufficient
within six months. A committee appointed by Chief City Judge Thomas P.
Amodeo will monitor progress and issue periodic reports on progress,
officials said Friday.

Mayor Anthony M. Masiello's original spending plan called for abolishing
the division July 1, a cost-cutting move that would have laid off 32 employees.

The unit cost the city more than $800,000 this year. Some have argued that
Buffalo shouldn't be in the substance abuse counseling business in the
first place, claiming individuals could receive the same services in other
programs, including one operated by the county. Others have criticized past
management practices and claimed the division has been a haven for
patronage jobs.

But advocates said they're worried that uninsured drug abusers might "fall
through the cracks" if the city closes its four clinics. City Judge
Margaret A. Murphy was among those who urged the Council to pass a
compromise that will give the restructured division until Dec. 31 to wean
itself from city subsidies.

In the new fiscal year, the unit projects it will need $136,581 from the
city, with state reimbursements and other outside sources offsetting the
remaining $985,239.

Masiello said he went along with the compromise because it will force the
issue of whether the division can become self-sufficient. Staffers have
already contacted 200 outside entities in an effort to land contracts to
perform urine tests and physical exams. The division also plans to be more
aggressive in qualifying clients for Medicaid. City Court judges have also
vowed to refer more insured people to the program.

"Either this will be a stronger division or it will go out of business,"
Masiello said. "People have assured us that they're willing to make the
extra effort. I think we've turned a problem into an opportunity."

With expected retirements, the actual number of layoffs in the division
could shrink to six.

Counselor Ida Berzon was scheduled to lose her job Monday. She fought back
tears after the Council's Budget Committee endorsed the compromise Friday
and sent it to the full Council, which approved it a short time later.
Berzon said she's confident the restructuring will be effective.

"People are already working to get the extra revenue to make this work,"
she said.

During Friday's special session, the Council also voted to sell seven
city-owned properties in the 800 block of Main Street to the Buffalo Urban
Renewal Agency, which will market them as part of a plan to attract private
investment in the medical corridor. The $370,000 fund transfer is among the
strategies officials have used to balance the budget.

But four Council members opposed the sale, with some criticizing the use of
money left over from previous federal block grant projects. Antoine M.
Thompson said it's irresponsible to use funds to buy buildings when they
could be earmarked for neighborhoods that suffer from "slum and blight."

South Council Member Mary M. Martino also opposed the measure as a protest
vote over a new budget that will result in 32 police officers being laid off.

"If you can find money for things like this, then you should be able to
find it for important needs like police services," said Martino, who
claimed the cuts will leave South Buffalo with inadequate police protection
this summer.

The revised $271.5 million budget approved by Council members last month
restored 50 police officers targeted to be cut in the mayor's budget, but
that action still left 38 layoffs. The number has since dropped to 32, and
Majority Leader Rosemarie LoTempio reiterated earlier predictions that
"few, if any" officers will face long-term layoff when yet-to-be announced
retirements occur this summer.

The budget that takes effect Monday also eliminates 256 vacant jobs, closes
two fire companies for six months and preserves the city's disabled
advocacy office.

Masiello said he thinks the new budget is an early step in charting a "new
direction" for the city. The mayor also disclosed Friday that his political
campaign financed a citywide mailing of a brochure that highlights the
"progress" that has been made in dealing with the fiscal crisis. Tens of
thousands of pieces were mailed Friday.

"We've done some tough stuff in this budget," he said. "The mailing is one
way of telling our constituents what we've done."

He denied that the brochure was triggered by an anonymous citywide mailing
last month that accused him of "running Buffalo into the ground." Masiello
forces claimed County Democratic Party Chairman G. Steven Pigeon was behind
the mailing.