Budget Cuts

The council is on the right track. We need a economic developer and a city manager, but not at $100,000 a year. Cut $40,000 from each position and put it into building inspections. We need to clean up our city and keep it that way. As far as accomplishments, do we need a $100,000 city manager to clean up our anti-discrimination policies and, wasn't the Culinary Institute already in the works before Peter Kay?

Regional Economic Growth Through Ecological Restoration of the Niagara Gorge

This study has been found to be consistent with the Niagara River Greenway Commission's mission and will go forward thanks in part to Mayor Dyster's convincing remarks. This study should play an important role in determining the fate of the parkway from Niagara Falls to Lewiston.

Good Luck Mayor Dyster

Mr. Milstein and his group of speculators came to this city because its location suggests its a good place to invest and with the premise that a casino would be the spark plug to profitability. They were wrong.

Good luck Mayor Dyster, I think Mr. Milstein will start selling and/or developing his property when we make it profitable for him to do so and, not until. How do we make it profitable? By removing the Parkway and the glass walls. When Old Falls Street presents the atmosphere of Center Street, Mr. Milstein will join in the prosperity.

Something Positive

Well, it looks like a done deal making that ugly parking lot a permanent part of the city's landscape. One must admit it is beautiful facade on an otherwise repulsive structure. In any case, the Culinary Institute is a welcome attraction to a rather empty downtown Niagara Falls and, an overall positive for our city.

How to grow our tax base

Reassess every home in the city. Hire that firm that came through the last time. They were very good at over assessing property values. Don’t work for you? Well, we can’t raise the rates because they are already number one in the country. What’s that? You want to lower the taxes. How are we going to provide services to our community: Fix our roads, plow our streets, keep up our fire, and police departments?

Here is the way I see it. Our tax base will rise when we make our city a presentable place to visit and live. We will raise our tax base when we are able to put people on Falls Street, Third Street, Niagara Street, and Main Street. Finally; we will raise our tax base when it is feasible to invest in our city.

We will do so by providing more than glass and concrete in the downtown area. We will do so by restoring our waterfront. We will do so by providing better access to our business districts while ceasing to truck people around them. We will do so by making sure that every owner is responsibly maintaining and occupying their property. We will do so by fighting to bring our power rates in line with our competitors.

Got a better answer? Let’s hear it.

Library Funding and Ms. Babanoury

I do not know what Ms. Babanboury problems are, but the library is a public facility vital to our community and it needs to be fully funded. Having the air condition inoperable for most of two summers is unacceptable. Failure to provide upkeep for this facility is a failure of civic responsibility equal to the underfunding any learning institution and we as a community should not accept it.

Resurfacing Packard Road

Packard Road from Niagara Falls Boulevard to the Rail Road Overpass is listed as a locally administrated stimulus project. It looks like one of those "Job Security" examples of poor workmanship. I would estimate it would return to the old condition in less than two years. Come on; everyone knows you can not repave over that old brickwork and expect it to last.

By the way, has anyone drove down Tenth Street latley?

Post Election Comments

Well, the people have spoken. The Candidate for the Niagara County legislature who believes paving our city streets is more important than addressing issues which affect our commerce has won by a large margin in the 5th district. Another teacher has been added to the city council instead of someone with a background in commercial development, again, by a large margin.

This is not what I meant by doing things to grow our Tax Base. In order to increase our tax base, we have to improve commerce and raise the standard of living by adding property of value to our tax rolls. Ignoring the parkway and downtown while paving our side streets is not the answer to growing our tax base. Of course we need to maintain our streets, but what will we do next year and the year after that, when the money dries up?

Tuesday Election

It is hard to imagine there are candidates running for the county legislature who do not think the parkway should be at the forefront of economic issues and that there are others who believe it is a State Parks issue.

To think someone so uninformed on the economics of the parkway would seek office is mind boggling. The parkway may be controlled by the state parks but its fate is a public issue and when it is a determent of well being of the citizens of Niagara County it should definitely be a legislator's issue.

The first thing that should happen after the election is that the county pass resolutions endorsing the Gorge Rim study and the TIGER Grant. Then they should work with City, State and Federal Government to provide anything necessary to make them reality.

Community Regeneration Act

This could help with our housing dilemma if, we develop a plan to complement it and, it becomes law. One thing is for sure. We need something designed to save our neighborhoods before they suffer the fate of the old east side.