‘It’s about knowing your shelf life’: Darius Pridgen reflects on his Buffalo Common Council tenure
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Many Buffalo residents were shocked when former Councilman and Common Council President Darius Pridgen said he wasn’t running and wouldn’t be leading the governing body anymore.
He says he will still be involved and advocate for his community, but he won’t be seeking another public office right now.
Pridgen sat down with News 4 in his final days in office.
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How he got into politics
After graduating from Bennett High School at age 16, Pridgen went on to attend college and enrolled in the Air Force before finishing. He ended up coming back to Buffalo after being stationed in Panama and is a decorated veteran as he served during the U.S. Invasion of Grenada. Then, Pridgen finished his degree at Buffalo State and went on to get his master’s degree at Medaille College.
He’s been a pastor for several decades and got into politics by running for Buffalo Board of Education and winning an at-large seat. At the time, he was a Spanish teacher in Buffalo Public Schools. He left the board seat a year early because of mounting frustrations.
“I was frustrated and I really didn’t feel like we were accomplishing a great deal,” Pridgen said. “Loved government, hate politics, so I left and I said I’d never be bothered with politics again.”
He says he never wanted to be a politician, and it sort of fell into his lap.
“I really didn’t plan on it and nobody asked me,” Pridgen said with a laugh.
After leaving the school board, Pridgen had property in the Ellicott district and was considering moving and selling it. In a meeting with religious and political leaders, including Mayor Byron Brown, Pridgen made the quick decision to run for the seat.
“The mayor mentioned there’s an open seat in Ellicott and we’re looking for someone to run. It was like, that’s why I needed to stay, and I said I’ll run,” Pridgen explained.
After two years on the council, Pridgen was voted in as council president in 2014 and held the seat until the end of 2023.
Before running for any office, including his re-election campaigns, Pridgen prayed, asking for guidance. When he prayed before the 2023 election, it was different.
“Everything was geared up for me to run. I didn’t hear a yes from God,” Pridgen said. “I didn’t feel that unction to run and I don’t have any plans except to pastor.”
With a shuffle brewing in Buffalo politics, Pridgen said his focus, right now, is on True Bethel Baptist Church, but he will never say never on another opportunity, including holding another political office.
“People can encourage it, but if by my faith I don’t feel that God allows it, the answer will be no,” Pridgen explained. “For me it’s not about winning, it’s about knowing, knowing your time, knowing your shelf life and being open enough to change to move over and do something else.”
Pridgen’s accomplishments in the council
Pridgen says his greatest accomplishments are increasing government transparency by making the meetings available online and on television, working on district issues like parking in the Fruit Belt and city wide initiatives, including police reform. He is most proud of working on the African American Heritage Corridor.
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“To leave out and to see construction happening, the Black owned radio station getting ready to move in to a new building soon, the Colored Musicians Club, all of those things were important, Jesse Clipper [Monument], it was important to me as an African American male not to forget my heritage in office,” Pridgen said.
While Pridgen said he accomplished many key goals, he said you can always do more in office. He wishes the council would have expanded access to affordable housing.
“I wish we could’ve done more on affordable housing. As a pastor [and as a council member], I’m dealing with people all the time who cannot afford to stay in Buffalo or are facing horrible landlords,” Pridgen continued.
Among some of his most challenging days in office was May 14, 2022, when a racist gunman opened fire at the Tops on Jefferson Avenue in the heart of the Ellicott District.
“I get emotional to this minute thinking about Tops because every time I mention it it kind of brings up all of the emotions. I was physically drained and mentally spent,” Pridgen said. “First I had to lead me through it and then I had to pull myself together and ensure that we as a community didn’t fall apart.”
He believes he is leaving the council and city in a better pace than when he started and hopes the council maintains its independence in City Hall.
“My relationship with the administration, I think, was a healthy one in that they had their opinions, the council had theirs, but my job was to represent the people that put me there, not politics,” Pridgen said.
“The piece of advice is to keep the council independent, to never be a rubber stamp and to be fair,” he said to the next council president.
Councilwoman Leah Halton-Pope ran and won the Ellicott seat, replacing Pridgen. She was also voted Majority Leader by the common council at their reorganization meeting on Tuesday.
South District Councilman Chris Scanlon was tapped as the new council president.
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Tara Lynch is a Buffalo native and Emmy-nominated reporter who joined the News 4 team in 2022. She previously worked at WETM in Elmira, N.Y., a sister station of News 4. You can follow Tara on Facebook and Twitter and find more of her work here.
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