Joel Feroleto
Joel P. Feroleto is an American politician, attorney, and adjunct Professor who has served as President of the Buffalo Common Council since 2026 and as the council member from the Delaware District since 2015. Before entering elected office, he worked on the staffs of Buffalo Common Council members and in The New York State Senate.
Early life and education
Feroleto is an alumnus of Saint Joseph's Collegiate Institute in Buffalo. He later attended Canisius University and received his Juris Doctor from the University at Buffalo School of Law.
Legal and public service career
Before becoming an attorney, Feroleto worked as a staff member to elected officials on the Buffalo Common Council and in the New York State Senate. He served as deputy chief of staff to then-State Senator Mark Grisanti.
Feroleto works for Feroleto Law, the personal injury firm headed by his father, and has handled personal injury cases in New York courts. He has also served as an adjunct professor at D'Youville University, where he has co-taught a class on street art and social activism.
Feroleto co-founded the Hertel Walls public-art project. He received the Sarah G. Metzger Award from HOME in 2015, the Amherst Chamber of Commerce Community Revitalization Award in 2019, the Spark Award from Art Services Inc. in 2020, and the Marilyn GS Watt Alumni Award from Canisius University in 2022.
Political career
Feroleto was appointed to the Buffalo Common Council on September 1, 2015, after the resignation of Delaware District council member Michael J. LoCurto. He was approved unanimously by the council and was immediately sworn in.
Later that year, Feroleto won election to a full term in the Delaware District, defeating Republican candidate Peter Rouff.
Feroleto won re-election in 2019 and 2023.
In the 2023 election cycle, Feroleto was not opposed in the Democratic primary.
On January 2, 2026, the Common Council voted unanimously to elect Feroleto as council president, his first leadership position within the body. As of 2026, he was chair of the Rules Committee.
Personal life
Feroleto is part of a Buffalo legal and political family. His mother, Paula Feroleto, is a state judge and his brother John is a county prosecutor. His father, attorney John P. Feroleto, died in 2025; his obituary identified Joel Feroleto's wife as Carrie Feroleto.
Feroleto is also the cousin of former Delaware District council member Michael J. LoCurto, whom he succeeded on the Common Council in 2015.