THE WORLD TELEGRAM NEWS (ORCHARD PARK, NY) – The World Telegram News followed Braiden McElhaney on the campaign trail as he went door-to-door in Orchard Park ahead of the Democrats’ first major fundraising event of the election cycle. Throughout the day, WTN Chief Correspondent Edvardi Jackson sat down with McElhaney and his fellow running mates for an in-depth interview that covers ground you won’t find on any other local news outlet.
The primary issue Edvardi covered with McElhaney during the interview was his stance on urban development in Orchard Park, as interest in the area continues to grow, especially as the Buffalo Bills aim to host the NFL Draft. Residents have voiced concerns that the existing infrastructure isn’t ready or equipped to handle such growth, citing heavy traffic and congestion during game days. Another concern was that those who visit Orchard Park only do so for the games, or as a means to get somewhere else, rather than the town’s own merits. At a recent fundraiser, one longtime resident told The World Telegram News she had lived in Orchard Park for over 50 years before moving for personal reasons. “When we moved to Orchard Park 55 years ago, it was a bustling town,” she said. “It had grocery stores. It had a booming Arthur’s. We were able to stay right in our community and do all of our shopping.”. She added, “Now, there’s nothing left to shop at—or stay in.”
“We don’t have a heart in Orchard Park anymore. […] What I see in our town is a town that you drive through to get someplace else—to shop, and to do your business, and that’s very sad because that’s not what we had many years ago”.
At the center of the conversation is the development surrounding the new Highmark Stadium, currently under construction next to the old one. In late 2024, the Town Board approved a zoning change to encourage mixed-use development, dubbed “Development & Research 2” zones, within a few miles of the stadium. This change would pave the way for new hotels, restaurants, retail spaces, and other projects up to four stories tall. However, McElhaney told WTN News he views this as a patchwork fix that doesn’t address a deeper issue within the town’s overall zoning framework.
“Right now, the current leadership has really misused their ability when it comes to zoning. They lost out on an opportunity to have a hotel come in because they created these spot zones. We need a universal standard for zoning in this community that promotes development and doesn't stifle it. Because of that, we are facing the repercussions, like hotels moving into different communities and like the NFL Draft not being able to be here. I know we all wish that it could be here. So we really need to take a look at the zoning.” He told the publication. McElhaney, a real estate agent and law student at the University at Buffalo, said he brings a unique perspective to the Democratic slate.
“I am a real estate agent. So I focus mainly on getting homes for young families, specifically first time home buyers. And this really helped me understand the market in this community. It really helped me to understand what young families are going through in this community. And I literally get to say that I help bring families to Orchard Park. I get to help them plant their roots here to grow their family here. And being part of that is really special.”.
However, both Braiden and Town Supervisor candidate Marie Mahon say price gouging and “cronyism” make that harder.
“I mean, so much of what's being built here, they're just enormous. They're enormous million-dollar houses, and that's fantastic. But what's the realistic opportunity for millionaires? I mean, how many millionaires are in Western New York? That's just, you know, not necessarily the best way to get young people here. You know, I think if you want to get young people, if you want to get young professionals, you have to offer townhouses. You have to offer condominiums. You have to offer apartments. I mean, you know, there's so much going on, I think, right now with those modular homes and things like that where you can put together housing in much lower cost. It can really appeal to young people.” – Marie Mahon, in an interview with The World Telegram News.
With that said, the Democrats' plan to tackle housing and infrastructure could present a potential conflict of interest for McElhaney, considering that local politicians often have a say in zoning laws, housing developments, tax incentives, and infrastructure projects. It's possible that this power, whether it's used intentionally or otherwise, could be used for personal benefit. This also would mean McElhaney is privy to early or sensitive information about development projects, which could give him an unfair advantage in buying, selling, or recommending properties. When asked, he disagrees, saying "I'm just helping people buy a home. I'm just acting as a transactioner in that process.”. McElhaney added, “it comes down to making sure that I'm doing everything objectively and making sure I'm weighing every option. One of the biggest parts of my job — and that's why I have a license, that's why I was trained — is in confidentiality. What I do with my clients is with them. What I do with the town board is with the town board.”. McElhaney didn't directly say whether he'd resign if elected when asked.
A fair question to follow up would be "what's fair housing, without reliable transportation?", especially considering that the NFTA currently runs only two Route 72 buses per day connecting Buffalo to Orchard Park. Public transit isn’t the only concern—many residents say local roadways become heavily congested on game days, raising questions about long-term infrastructure sustainability. Town Council candidate McElhaney believes the issue starts with cooperation.
“A lot of these are county and state roads,” he says. “So again, it starts by repairing our reputation with them. It starts by having those tough conversations. But I think it would be in the best interest to expand the NFTA into Orchard Park. I think a lot of people would benefit from having a transport system from the city to the stadium and around the surrounding area. I don’t think that would be a bad thing.”
Highway Supervisor candidate Keith Jarosz, who is running a fusion campaign on both the Democratic and Conservative lines, also weighed in. (Note: The Orchard Park Conservative Party is distinct from the GOP; most GOP-backed candidates are incumbents, with the exception of current Town Supervisor Eugene Majchrzak.)
“As far as maintaining the roadways, definitely I’d keep up with that,” Jarosz said. “But it’s not an area I specialize in. I wouldn’t mind possibly seeing a few more lanes open up—looking at the traffic lane situation and seeing how that looks to keep traffic flowing better.”
Paul Filsinger, another candidate for town council on the Dems’ slate, says the proposals may result in tax hikes, but it’s necessary for the growth of Orchard Park — a move that some voters I’ve spoken to say is a hard sell. “We can't make both happen. We can't make a nice, quiet village with a busy shopping center area and multiple businesses. We can't keep tax low as well.”.
“I would prefer to avoid higher taxes on residents as much as I could.”, added Town Supervisor candidate Mahon in response, continuing, “You have no idea what's coming, especially what's happening sometimes in national politics with the cuts going on there. You might need to support your community a bit more from a local level, but if you can build up the business infrastructure and create a stronger tax base through that, hopefully that would make it so there would not be as much pressure to impact individual citizens.”
All candidates for the democratic bid for Town Board believe that more help from Erie County could go a long way. It’s a sentiment also echoed by a select group of voters, with one telling The World Telegram News, “It feels like we’ve been forgotten about compared to Buffalo and the other southtowns”. Erie County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick disagrees. “Orchard Park is a huge part of our constituency, and I want to meet as many people as possible.” He said, explaining his surprise apperance, later adding “I think we've helped a lot already, because we're putting that brand-new stadium — you know, that $1.7 billion, $2 billion stadium, or whatever it ends up costing — right next to the old stadium, and there are probably a lot of possibilities for development around that. Now, how that happens, I think, is important, and the town board is currently weighing that. Certainly, the county is there to help them. Our planning people are there. Here's where we want to see the development done right.”
He also pushed back on a belief that the NFTA had neglected Orchard Park, and that county resources were unfairly distributed to Buffalo, other towns, and suburbs.
“[NFTA] is a state agency. It's a state authority. The control we have over it is very limited. We do give them some money. Our sales tax portion of it goes to the NFTA each year, and that's nothing to sniff at. But they have their own board, and we can try to talk them into things and doing more, but that's about the extent of it. The problem is, for them and for a lot of other agencies, is the money. It's very expensive, and if they're going to expand, you're going to have to see a much bigger federal role than there is currently. I live in the city of Tonawanda, which is one of the three cities. In the city of Tonawanda, or the city of Buffalo or the city of Lackawanna, there's not one inch of county road. In Orchard Park, and every place outside of the cities — the three cities — a significant amount of the infrastructure, especially the roadways, is paid for by county taxpayers, including those in the cities. It's a dynamic relationship. I hope it's a symbiotic relationship between the city and the suburbs. That hasn't always been the case, and a lot of people want to pit the city against the suburbs. There are things that are good about the cities, and they need the suburbs, and the suburbs need the cities. What I don't want to see is this friction between them. I think people have to realize that some of the resources of the county are focused on the city of Buffalo in particular, but many of the other resources — especially the roads and the sheriff protection — they're in the suburbs.”
The World Telegram News reached out to NFTA-Metro’s press office for comment, but was sent to voicemail.
Voters WTN News spoke to also complained about the region's representation in local government. One voter, Laurie Bitting, expressed frustration with Rep. Nick Langworthy, saying she calls his office daily and believes he has failed to represent the district. “It’s despicable,” she said. “He hasn’t done anything that I can see.”
Orchard Park was formerly under a separate congressional district, the GOP-led NY-27, which was dissolved in 2020. Today, NY-23, which represents part of Buffalo’s northern towns and all of the southern towns, is represented by incumbent GOP representative Nick Langworthy. When asked about whether McElhaney felt that the redistricting left them without representation, “Yes, it does concern me. Again, given the redistricting that we've had, it has really put this Pacific district, the New York 23 district, in a really tough spot. A lot of the issues coming from our current congressman do not reflect the issues that matter most to people in this district. And it is concerning. And it's concerning that we are now a part of that.”.
The World Telegram asked Bitting, who had a “Buffalo Bills” sign on her door, about her thoughts on Town Supervisor Majchrzak’s vote against new zoning around Highmark Stadium. “It’s just a moneymaker and it’s good for the economy”, adding, “I’m glad he didn’t get what he wanted”.
The messaging from the OP Dems’ political strategy was very restrained, with all 4 candidates being careful with how they worded their criticisms of the incumbent town board. McElhaney says their team isn’t asking voters to switch parties, but to support leadership focused on action, progress, and cutting through bureaucracy, contrasting it with what they see as inaction under current Orchard Park Republican leadership. “I'm not asking people to change how they believe about national policy. What I'm asking is for people to take national policy out of local politics." McElhaney said. "This is about progress. This is about development. This is about growth. It isn't about anything else. We're not standing behind these political agendas.” Town Supervisor candidate Mahon agreed with those sentiments, telling The World Telegram News,
“I just think, even if we get elected, there's still two other council members. There's still the village board, there's still the mayor. They are Republicans. We cannot come in here and say, Oh, we don't want to work with anyone who doesn't hold our beliefs. Half of our community may not hold our beliefs. I mean, there are more registered Republicans. So, you know, we are here, we have our beliefs, we have what we think is right, but you still have to work with other people. You can't come in and just demand and bulldoze and expect to be an effective leader. So I think that shows that we are here to make sure we're doing the best for our community, regardless of who we have to work with.”
The World Telegram News’ interview in Orchard Park didn’t just cover infrastructure, however. McElhaney, 22, is the youngest on the democratic ticket. A topic affecting people in his age bracket is weed use, which a 2019 study by the NIH said went up over previous years. The World Telegram News asked if revisiting the 2021 ban on marijuana lounges by the town board would be on his agenda. “A lot of the marijuana policies come from the state,” McElhaney said. “As a local town council candidate, there isn't much I would do in terms of legislation on that. But I think it's absolutely important to enforce the laws that we have.” Chief Correspondent Edvardi Jackson pressed him on what appeared to be a non-committal answer, pointing out that under New York's Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act—signed by then-Governor Andrew Cuomo—municipalities had the option to opt out of allowing cannabis lounges. Orchard Park did just that: banning on-site weed lounges while allowing dispensaries.
“Did you feel that was the right decision?” Edvardi asked.
“I think it was,” McElhaney responded. “Again, we need to understand that marijuana does have its implications. Just like we wouldn’t want people walking around the community drunk, we want to make sure we’re enforcing marijuana use in the same way.”
He later clarified his position in a follow-up with The World Telegram News: “At this point, I think it’s important that we weigh all of our options and look at all the data,” he said, adding, “I’m open to revisiting [the ban] in the future,” while maintaining that the current legislation was “working for now.”.
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The World Telegram News has reached out to The Orchard Park Republican Committee and the Orchard Park Conservative Parties to get their say, and is awaiting a response. The World Telegram News is committed to fair and balanced reporting and will continue to do what we can to get as balanced an article as possible. Any interested parties who have comments can call Edvardi Jackson of WTN News by calling +1 (716) 364-4733 or email edvardi@kir.media.
