The Buffalo News
Buffalo, New York
21 May 2023

Will Council candidates quit their state jobs if elected? Their answers differ

Leah Halton-Pope and Zeneta Everhart, who are running for two open seats on the Buffalo Common Council, don't have a ton of time to run their campaigns during the day. 

That's because they already have day jobs with two powerful Buffalo Democrats in the New York State Legislature. Everhart is the director of diversity and inclusion for Sen. Timothy M. Kennedy and Halton-Pope serves as senior adviser to Assembly Majority Leader Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes.

But voters shouldn't assume that both Democrats, who are supported by Mayor Byron W. Brown and other members of the Democratic establishment, see eye to eye on whether they would automatically step down from their state positions if elected to Buffalo's Common Council.  This year, all Buffalo Common Council seats are up for election and the past few months have seen a bevy of candidacy announcements and candid… 

When questioned by The Buffalo News about whether she would resign as Peoples-Stokes' top aide, Halton-Pope said, "My focus is representing the Ellicott District. I wouldn’t have stepped into this if I didn’t have the entirety of the district in my heart and my mind." 

When a reporter sought to clarify whether that meant that if elected, she would no longer be working for the Assembly majority leader, Halton-Pope again did not directly answer the question.

"My focus is on Ellicott," she said. "That does not change … that’s it … that’s what I’m running for. I’m running to represent Ellicott." 

Only after she was pressed again by a News reporter did Halton-Pope, who is running against three others in the Ellicott District, give an answer that was more clear: "I have no intention to work anywhere else but for the Ellicott District," she said. "That is my intention, as the representative for Ellicott. That’s it." 

Everhart drew a distinction between her position, which is based on Buffalo's East Side, and that of Halton-Pope, who frequently is in Albany with the majority leader during the legislative session.

Everhart, who is running in the Masten District against India B. Walton and Murray Holman, said, "So I think my job is a lot different than Leah’s job, but of course I would eventually step down, because trying to do both of those jobs would be insane."  

Running a campaign at nights and on the weekends while carrying out the duties of a state job during the week has already proved demanding, she said.  "It’s almost like I’m working two full-time jobs, and it’s a lot," Everhart said. "So yeah, I don’t see that I would physically be able to do both."  Should she win the race, Everhart would be getting a pay hike from her current salary. She made $59,227 last year working for the senator, according to seethroughny.net. 

Buffalo's Common Council members make $75,000 per year, and efforts are underway to raise council salaries to $84,472, though that plan has not been approved. 

Halton-Pope, meanwhile, would be taking a pay cut if she were elected to the Council. She earns $83,231 per year working for Peoples-Stokes, according to seethroughny.net.

Everhart said if elected, she would work for Kennedy until the senator was able to find a suitable replacement.  "We want to make sure that they understand the East Side the way that I do, because we want to make sure that work continues," she said. "But yeah, eventually I will have to step down. There’s no way that I would be able to do both."