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Home > Leadership > Mayor > Archive Press Releases > 2006 Archives > December 2006 > MAYOR BROWN ANNOUNCES NEW APPOINTMENTS

MAYOR BROWN ANNOUNCES NEW APPOINTMENTS


Source/Contact
Office of the Mayor
Peter K. Cutler
Director of Communications
716-851-4841

Janet Penksa Named Commissioner of Administration, Finance, Policy and Urban Affairs; David Rodriguez Appointed Deputy Corporation Counsel
 
BUFFALO – Continuing his commitment to hiring the “best and the brightest,” Mayor Byron W. Brown today announced the appointment of Janet E. Penksa to the new cabinet-level position of Commissioner of Administration, Finance, Policy and Urban Affairs and David Rodriguez to Deputy Corporation Counsel.
 
The mayoral appointments must be confirmed and/or approved by the Buffalo City Council and the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority.
 
“Both of these individuals bring extensive experience, both in the private and public sector, to my Administration and I am confident they will make significant contributions to our ongoing effort to revitalize and grow Buffalo,” said Mayor Brown.
 
Janet Penksa recently represented the City of Buffalo in the State Capitol, working for the Albany-based firm of Hinman Straub, P.C. With Penksa leading Buffalo’s efforts during the 2006 state legislative session, the City of Buffalo secured over $700 million in state funding.
 
In 1983, Penksa began her career in the State Legislature as a graduate scholar on the Assembly Ways and Means Committee. She was ultimately appointed Secretary (Chief of Staff) to the Ways and Means Committee in 1993, becoming the first woman in the history of New York State to oversee one of the three key state fiscal departments in Albany (Senate Finance Committee and the Governor’s Division of the Budget being the other two departments).
 
She has since served as an associate vice president at the University at Buffalo (1998-2005), directing the University’s Office of Government Affairs and she also served as a Director of the then newly formed Erie County Fiscal Stability Board (2005).
 
“Janet Penksa is a consummate professional, continually demonstrating her ability to understand complex fiscal and policy issues, and then provide expert analysis and advice on how to best address specific policy matters,” said Mayor Brown. “She will help transform our budget process into the primary vehicle to establish and implement my policies. She is an excellent addition to our Administration and I know she will serve the residents of our city well.”
 
A 1996 graduate of State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law and Jurisprudence, David Rodriguez has been a solo practitioner of law since 2003. 
 
Prior to that he was a member of the Siegel, Kelleher and Kahn law firm, where his primary responsibilities were real estate closings on volume basis, criminal defense and civil litigation.
 
Following graduation from law school in 1996, Rodriguez interned in the Erie County District Attorney’s office and held a judicial clerkship in the Office of Court Administration, where he was assigned to City Court judges.
 
“David Rodriguez has distinguished himself locally in the practice of law and jurisprudence and I am pleased that he has accepted the opportunity to serve the residents of Buffalo as Deputy Corporation Counsel,” said Mayor Brown. “His expertise in real estate issues will be of particular benefit to our Administration, especially as we continue to expand and enhance economic development opportunities across the city.”
 
Rodriguez becomes the first Hispanic American appointed to the city’s Deputy Corporation Counsel position.
 
Both residents of Buffalo, Ms. Penksa’s annual salary will be $104,000; Mr. Rodriguez will earn $73,192.