New stadium developers are failing to follow the legally binding agreements

By Pat Freeman, The Mighty O’Ba

There is growing frustration with community leaders and those who oversee building the new stadium in Orchard Park. New York State Senator April Baskin from day one stated that she would hold the franchise and its developers account able to follow the Construction Coordinating agreement, and the Com munity Benefit Agreement. So far, it seems the only strategy to follow these agreements is found on the paper they were printed on. If the goal was really to achieve these goals, they would have worked to put people in place who could help you achieve these required numbers (e.g., Frank Daniel, the Executive Director of the Independent Contractors Guild of Western New York and Michael Peterson, from Peterson Heating and Cooling, the founding member of Craft Technical Institute, which provides the necessary intermediate skills that help secure jobs upon their graduation).

This program provides the desired staff Gilbane Turner are allegedly looking for with their little publicity meetings that they are schedul ing in various locations, including one in North Tonawanda, where they plan on finding a pletho ra of interested minority contractors with a racial makeup 93.58% white, Two or more races 3.27%, and Black or African 1.57%. This is the NFL playbook in rare form here in Western New York again. Well, this time we are not going to just sit back and watch you take close to 1.84 Billion dollars of public money and spend it with out you following the legally binding parameters that are in place.

Gilbane and Turner, along with the profes sional franchise, must follow the legally binding agreements with more than lip service. The Independent Contractors Guild of Western New York, in association with the Craft Technical Institute, need to be brought in as paid consultants for the sole purpose of achieving the goal of 35% participation. There are also other areas that non certified businesses can be brought to the table to supply other necessities in building this stadium. This would include food service photography, sup ply delivery, clean up etc.

The area that frustrates me is the flagrant disrespect of our accredited media outlets of color. The Challenger Community News, Power 96.5FM radio, and the oldest African American Newspaper in Western New York, The Buffalo Criterion Newspaper never receive a dime of advertising revenue from a league that is made up of over 56% players are black. The rules of engagement have been consummated, and the exalted ancestor Fredrick Douglass has stated that Power con cedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will.