Pridgen sees need to coalesce city leaders

By Jeffrey Heras and Kevin Hoffman
Bengal News reporters
 The Rev. Darius Pridgen of the True Bethel Baptist Church is no stranger to the political scene in Buffalo as he recently has been elected to a seat in the Buffalo Common Council taking leadership of the Ellicott District. As a former member of the Buffalo Board of Education he is aware of what it will take to bring positive renovation to an area that is craving change.

New councilmember coming to City Hall

 “I wish I could just talk about the Ellicott District, but I see my role as being so far beyond Ellicott,” Pridgen said. “The issues that are facing Ellicott are the same issues facing everybody and because we don’t have the at large position in the council most people are concerned only about their district, but that hasn’t done us well,” he said.
 Pridgen also stated that issues such as employment, enforcement of the laws, crime and the education system are important to Buffalo’s development for the future. He added that Buffalo is losing people who graduate from the area’s colleges and universities due to the low employment opportunities available.
 “If we don’t give them opportunities to stay by really connecting city and the colleges together we’re done, and we’re going to continue to see people use Buffalo as a pipeline to their future and never it being the future.”
 He said that the city of Buffalo should reach out to higher education institutions in the area to help with identifying the issues that are facing Buffalo. Together they should try to articulate these issues to the residents of Buffalo in order to get everyone engaged in helping to fix them.
 Pridgen has proposed a G4P summit, Government for the People Summit, in which the elected officials that represent buffalo, whether on the state level, federal level or county level get together and have to decide together on what the priorities are and begin to partner resources and energy in order to accomplish these priorities.
 “Right now we have government going into all types of directions, everybody stays in their own little office, their own little district and now people are suffering. When voters see somebody trying to bring people together you almost have to embarrass those that won’t participate,” he said.

Niagara District Councilmember David Rivera

 Pridgen, along with his colleague David Rivera, a councilman for the Niagara district, face similar problems when it comes to their constituency, such as poverty and poor housing, as well as other economic pitfalls. Rivera states that he would like to collaborate with Pridgen on a number of projects, seeing as both districts share a common border, it would be beneficial for them to work with one another in order to help cultivate the lower West Side that extends into the Ellicott District.

Niagara District Councilmember David Rivera speaks on working with Pridgen:


 When discussing the economy of Buffalo and its future Pridgen said there needs to be a higher concentration on local and small businesses in order to make Buffalo a thriving and vibrant city. He added that he would like to see an Ellicott district that is growing to the point that there is a downtown like that of Toronto.
 “I have dreams about getting small businesses not just on Elmwood, not just on Allentown but the center of our city," he said.
 “I believe in listening to what people have to say and what they feel. If I don’t pay attention to the smallest business to the largest business the tax base is not there, the business community is so important and the I think they now that I really believe in the growth of small and large,” he said.
 Even with the optimism and go-getter attitude the 46-year-old reverend brings to office, he says that people have to work together in order to accomplish goals. He believes that one of the biggest things is that many have not collaborated in an effort to expose issues facing Buffalo and bringing people together.
 Though Pridgen was elected to the Buffalo Common Council on November 2010 he will quickly run for re-election in November 2011 and said that he doesn’t want to pretend that he can turn the world upside down in eleven months. In the next eleven months he wants to create community leadership groups within Ellicott, which will be made up of specific groups like block clubs, businesses, law enforcement specialists and those who can assist in educational and quality of life issues. He wants to put these committees together to turn around the paradigm of government as it is seen now.
 “I am a new kid on the block and this is largely a city that likes to operate by seniority and power and if you haven’t been around it is very difficult to break in, but this is one of the strengths that I bring to the table, I don’t care about losing. I am not a career politician, so I am not about to make choices based on, will I be re-elected, but based on what the people need and want,” Pridgen said.
 Pridgen foresees being able to motivate people to be more active and prideful of their community.
 “I expect for them to be as excited as I am and I am going to bring the excitement to the table. I expect them to keep up their neighborhoods and not to allow their neighborhoods to go down," Pridgen said. "I expect for them to make sure their children are educated and I expected them to be a part of this process of government.”

Edited by Kristine Starkey