Mayor Byron Brown Is Getting A Dose Of His Own Dirty Buffalo Politics
Back in 2007 Leonard Stokes was picked up by police outside the Ellicott Square building for allegedly using a stolen handicap parking tag. Apparently police were ordered to bring Stokes to the Mayor’s Office at City Hall, where he was later set free. Leonard Stokes was the owner of the failed city restaurant, One Sunset, which received more than $100,000 in loans and grants from a city economic development agency.
Obviously this guy is connected to a number of people in the political arena. One of the big questions regarding this matter is how and why was this man released instead of prosecuted? Why was he taken to the mayor’s office to begin with? Did Mayor Brown pull strings to get this matter swept under the rug? If you or I had done this, we would have been in front of a judge. As anyone who has been to a Buffalo court in the last couple years knows, you are basically going to be found guilty of anything the Buffalo police accuse you of doing.
Now some people want an FBI investigation into the matter. When asked about the incident, Mayor Brown stated that he did nothing wrong. Yet, he refused to answer any questions about the incident other than to say he did nothing wrong. He would not say why Stokes was brought to him or what conversations were had regarding Stokes. Smells like guilt to me.
Brown says this whole thing is politically motivated. It probably is. But, that doesn’t change the fact that the law may have been broken at a high level here. There’s nothing like an upcoming election to bring out all the accusations of law breaking, corruption and scandals.
I was once told by a very wise old Polish woman from Buffalo, if you have a good reputation and are an honest man, never get involved with politics. Your enemies and even your own constituents will ruin you.
