The Buffalo News, N.Y., Donn Esmonde column: COMMENTARY.(Column)

Byline: Donn Esmonde

Oct. 26--Uh-oh. Now I am in trouble. The mayor is mad at me. It was not just that I likened Buffalo, in a column last week, to a homeless guy for constantly holding out the tin cup to Washington and Albany. No, the city's latest plea for money went one step further -- directly to residents. Letters were recently sent to 504 block clubs, asking members to reach into their pockets to help pay for demolition of abandoned houses.

Asking taxpayers for donations to a $100 million demolition fund, to my mind, crosses a line. It officially marks the city as a charity case. It equates a taxcollecting, service-delivering body to a nonprofit cause …