Rasheed Wyatt announces mayoral bid

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- The real race for Buffalo's next mayor will take place during the primary in June.

That race is getting crowded -- seemingly by the day.

Buffalo Common Councilmember Rasheed Wyatt announced his bid for mayor on Monday. Wyatt has been a vocal critic of former Mayor Byron Brown and Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon. He was the only councilmember to vote against Scanlon becoming council president in January. So he made a point to say that his campaign is about real change.

"We've got to do some innovative things," Wyatt said. "We can't keep doing the same thing we've done and expect to get a different result. Change is coming."

Wyatt has represented the city's University District since 2014. He serves as chair of the civil service committee and is a member of the community development, education and police oversight committees.

Wyatt said that if he's elected, public education will be a top priority for him. He said he will also use his background in finance and banking to help get Buffalo out of its budget crisis.

"We have to start reevaluating our services and our processes," Wyatt said. "I want to be taking a deep dive meeting with commissioners. And guess what? Giving them some things that they have to be accountable for. It's just not going to be coming to work. It's going to be a list of responsibilities and duties."

Political analyst Jack O'Donnell said that Wyatt thinks the city needs to get its financial issues in order.

"He thinks the city needs to stop finding ways to, in my words, nickel and dime people, fines and new revenue and things like that," O'Donnell said. "And look for ways to cut." 

Wyatt joins other declared candidates -- state senator Sean Ryan, former fire commissioner Garnell Whitfield, and former city court judge James McLeod. Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon is also a likely candidate as well.

"It's good for the public to have the ability to assess people who want to be mayor," political analyst Ken Kruly said. "The Mayor of Buffalo is going to be a very, very difficult job because of the financial problems. And so the more the public knows about the potential candidates, the better."

Erie County Democrats have two more meetings before officially announcing their endorsed candidate sometime early next year.