“Far better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even checked by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in gray twilight that knows not victory or defeat.”

—Theodore Roosevelt

The epigraph above, from the old Rough Rider, accompanies emails sent by Stefan Mychajliw, special assistant for community relations to Buffalo school superintendent James Williams. Doubtless, many find it a nice touch, even inspirational perhaps. And it’s appropriate, given my recent experience trying to pry information about a matter involving the school board and Williams from Mychajliw and school administrators. There, at the end of a number of less-than-responsive emails from Mychajliw, was Teddy’s invocation of the nobility of courageous failure.

I began this unrequited quest after a chance meeting with West District board member Ralph Hernandez a couple of weeks ago. He told me that information the board had directed Williams to obtain last year was finally available. Last June 25, the board members passed a resolution directing the superintendent to ask state environmental officials “…to perform the appropriate environmental impact study on the Peace Bridge expansion product to determine the effects…of vehicular emissions during construction.” The resolution, submitted by Hernandez, contained a prefatory note citing the particular vulnerability of children to air pollution “…because, relative to weight and lung surface, they breathe more air per pound than adults.”

The basis-laying “whereas” section calls attention to a study in 2006 by physician and University at Buffalo professor Jamson Lwebuga-Makasa that concluded Census Tract 70—which includes the area adjoining the Peace Bridge—had a “population asthma prevalence” that is three times the national average.

Hernandez told me Jim Kane, Williams’ chief of staff, had indicated the sought-after information was ready and that Hernandez would get me a copy. Three days later Hernandez was still waiting and I decided to have a go at getting it for myself. I left a couple of phone messages at Kane’s office. He didn’t respond. A couple of days afterward, I put in a call to Mychajliw, asking him about the status of Williams’ report. A day later, he emailed the Artvoice office to say he’d try to get an answer, and later the same day he sent another message to say that “…the information requested by a board member was not available so a request was made for [Public Bridge Authority General Manager] Ron Reinas to brief the full board and answer any questions about any environmental impact.”

In a response the next day to a question from Artvoice editor Geoff Kelly about the suitability of Reinas as an expert, Mychajliw claimed the general manager’s visit was arranged to satisfy the board’s resolution. And it is certainly true that a second, subsidiary provision in the resolution calls for Williams “to invite the Peace Bridge to a Board of Education Meeting” to explain “the impact it will have on surrounding schools.”

Former Buffalo Common Council member Albert Coppola, who had discussions with Hernandez before the resolution was submitted, was at that August 27 meeting. He says Reinas “didn’t really address the environmental impact,” but did claim that School No. 3, across the street from the entrance to the bridge, wouldn’t be affected. (A phone message to Reinas’ office seeking comment wasn’t returned.)

In an email message late last week, Hernandez said he was “…concerned that the district has ignored the resolution.” Not without reason, evidently. That same day Mychajliw told Artvoice, “…there is no mention of providing a report in the resolution.”

(There is a technical flaw in its language. It directed Williams to contact “the New York State Environmental Protection Agency,” but the EPA is a federal, not a state, agency. However, neither Mychajliw nor, apparently, Williams, has objected on this ground. And two days before the vote, Hernandez sent the superintendent and board members a six-point memorandum on the subject with the proposed resolution attached.)

Meanwhile, I learned that Mel Austin, associate superintendent for school-plant services, had, independent of the board resolution, compiled figures on the incidence of asthma in the Buffalo public schools. I called his office a couple of times to ask if I could have access to this tally and eventually I was told by his secretary that I must file a Freedom of Information request for it. When I asked why, she said Mychajliw had directed them to tell me this.

I’ve been wondering if Mychajliw and the school administration are testing our mettle, making things difficult so we can measure up to Teddy Roosevelt’s performance standard. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’m not sure I’m going to be able to make it and anyway, who wants to take inspiration from a president who has a stuffed toy named after him?

—george sax