Meeting with Christopher Scanlon, the new mayor of Buffalo

Although it was said half-heartedly, Scanlon understood where his father’s advice was coming from.

“I was 30 years old, I had just gotten married and I was starting a family. He knew how long it took. It wasn’t a case of ‘no, don’t do it’ because of the public service aspect,” he said. “It was a commitment to start a family.”

The younger Scanlon decided to accept the position, marking the start of a political career that led him Tuesday to a permanent — if potentially short-lived — position in Room 201 of the Hotel de city ​​when he was sworn in to become mayor of the city of Buffalo. .

Scanlon, 43, will be sworn in during a ceremony that begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Buffalo Convention Center, 153 Franklin St. Doors will open at 4:30 p.m.

Scanlon was elevated to acting mayor when Byron W. Brown resigned last month in the third year of his fifth term to serve as CEO of Western Regional Off-Track Betting. Scanlon will lead the city until the end of Brown’s term, which ends Dec. 31, 2025.

In a recent interview with The Buffalo News, Scanlon spoke about his background, including his large family and his father’s large-scale influence in Buffalo politics under former Mayor James D. Griffin.

Scanlon was appointed to the Council in May 2012, filling the South District seat vacated by Michael P. Kearns, who had left to join the Assembly.

Then, in a November 2012 special election, Scanlon defeated four other candidates to retain the Southern District seat. He was subsequently re-elected after running unopposed in 2015, 2019 and 2023.

Of 12 years on the Council, nine of them he served as interim president. He was elected Council President last January by his Council peers in an 8-1 vote, beating out three other Council members vying for the position.

Scanlon’s father, John “Scanoots” Scanlon, played a key role in Griffin’s rise to four terms in City Hall.

In Griffin’s inner circle, Scanlon stood out. He was one of the masterminds of Griffin’s political operations, controlling much of the mayor’s patronage. And as Area 2 Democratic chairman, a member of the state Democratic committee and through his First Ward Democratic club, Scanlon has handled all things politics on the mayor’s field.

Yet his father never accepted a high-ranking position, the younger Scanlon said. “He worked as a laborer at the Broadway garage, picking up grain in the elevators.”

The elder Scanlon, who died two years ago, also led the city’s Aud board and served as vice chairman of the Erie County Democratic Committee — all part of the political operation of Griffin, largely outside the Democratic organization.

As Christopher began his political career, Scanlon gave his son two pieces of advice that he carries with him today. “Just be honest with people. If they are asking for help or looking for something to do and you can do it, do it as quickly as possible. If you can’t, tell them you can’t and tell them why you can’t. Just be upfront, honest about it,” Scanlon said.

The second piece of advice was: “Don’t burn bridges. It was something he prided himself on… being a bridge builder – not someone who would burn bridges,” Scanlon said. “As much as I’ve been able to, I’ve been able to do it, I’ve tried to maintain relationships and maintain relationships and develop them because I think that’s the way things are done. I think… government is about relationships and your ability to collaborate.

Scanlon grew up in the southern district he represents alongside five brothers and one sister. He is the second youngest of the siblings. The four oldest were born within three years of each other, he said.

Two of his brothers, Brian and Patrick, are firefighters in Buffalo, and two, Michael and John, work in the city’s public works department. Her sister, Kara, is a dispatcher for the Buffalo Police Department.

Another brother, Mark, worked as a sergeant with the Erie County Sheriff’s Office before he died Nov. 6 in a hunting accident.

Scanlon met his wife, Katie, while she was dating one of his best friends and he was dating one of hers. Then he went to school at Fordham University in New York for a year, and she was there, he said. “We were really good friends there,” Scanlon added.

When they both returned home, the couple started dating, but it took him a while to pop the question.

“Well, I’m an Irishman following in my father’s footsteps, so for seven years,” he said. “We knew where this was going. We knew when it was time. They now have three children: Thomas, the eldest, and two daughters, Adelaide and Siobhan, the youngest.