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Buffaloe hopes clear communication on council helps solve city issues

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) -

Barbara Buffaloe is just beginning to fill the shelves in the second-floor office at Columbia City Hall.

She slowly makes the transition ahead of Monday night's city council meeting, where the city clerk will swear her in as the new Columbia mayor. Buffaloe says she has already met with outgoing mayor Brian Treece, and will meet with City Manager De'Carlon Seewood to learn about various issues facing the city.

Buffaloe hopes to open communication up more between council members themselves. She said she watched as council members questioned each others' decisions in the middle of meetings, and hoped to build trust among members for the future.

"I don't need 7-0 votes," Buffaloe said. "But I need everyone to feel comfortable with understanding why somebody might be voting one way or another. I know what your priorities are and I know what you're hearing from your constituents and why that's important."

Buffaloe won this year's municipal election with 43 percent of the vote. She said her approachability and listening skills will help her serve the whole of the city. She wants people that may have voted for someone else to still get involved with city projects and share ideas on how to fix problems.

Buffaloe said she looks forward to seeing the results of an ongoing public input project on how the city should spend its $25 million from the American Rescue Plan Act. She said that money could be used for projects like violence interruption programs. What those programs look like the Columbia could come from the city council asking for ideas from the community.

"The city government is great as a convener," Buffaloe said. "This is both for public safety, or if we talk about the homelessness discussion, we are the convener of these groups that are working in this space. We kind of put out the call. We're putting out the call for people to step up in this regard. What do you have, what are the proposals that you have?"

That open communication will also help the city council understand the needs of city departments.

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Lucas Geisler

Lucas Geisler anchors the 5 p.m. show for ABC 17 News and reports on the latest news around mid-Missouri at 9 and 10 p.m.

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