Christopher Scanlon Set To Become Acting-Mayor of Buffalo

Now that Byron Brown has officially announced his resignation from office as Buffalo's Mayor and is taking the new position with Western Regional OTB in Batavia, city residents look towards Buffalo Common Council President Christopher Scanlon for leadership of the city for the next 15 months or so.

According to the City of Buffalo Charter, if the office of mayor becomes vacant, the President of the Common Council becomes Acting Mayor and will serve the balance of the current mayoral term. The exact date of the transition of power isn't set as Mayor Brown said he has a few loose ends to handle before officially resigning, but we know that it will happen in the next few weeks and likely will occur before the end of October.

While Council President Scanlon has been a member of the Buffalo Common Council for 12 years, taking office in 2012 after being appointed to the seat when then South district Councilman Michael P. Kearns won a special election to take a seat in the New York State Assembly, many folks around the city might not be all that familiar with him.

Who Is Christopher Scanlon

Christopher P. Scanlon is one of seven children of John and Paula Scanlon and is a lifelong Buffalo resident, going to St. Thomas Aquinas School and Bishop Timon St. Jude. Scanlon attended Erie Community College and Buffalo State University, earning his Bachelor's in Business Administration.

The married father of three worked in the private sector for UPS and the Western New York Pub Group before taking office in 2012. In the 12 years since he was appointed to the council, he was reelected in a 2012 special election, again in 2015, 2019, and 2023, when he was also named Common Council President.

Scanlon has a very close relationship with current Mayor Brown, which WIVB-TV noted. He worked with Brown when the current mayor ran a massive write-in campaign after he lost the Democratic primary to India Walton.

What Happens Now?

During the press conference on Monday, September 30, 2024, when Brown announced he resigned, Scanlon was asked what issues he was most concerned about. Scanlon reviewed a few items he considers priorities for when he becomes acting mayor.

...You know, I touched on them briefly during my remarks, but obviously we've talked a little bit here about our budget and the City's finances, but we've got to make sure we have high-quality affordable housing for the residents of City of Buffalo who need it, and turning as many of those renters as we can into homeowners. We have to make sure that we are providing public safety, and quite frankly, providing for the overall health and well-being of our residents. If our residents are not healthy, if they're not safe, really everything else is secondary to me.
-Chris Scanlon, Buffalo Common Council President

When Scanlon takes office later this month, his seat representing the South district of Buffalo will become vacant, and a member of the community will fill it, just as he did 12 years ago.