Candidates for mayor of Niagara Falls face some big questions

Niagara Falls needs help.

Its population has fallen to about 50,000, half of what it was a half century ago.

The skeletons of a once powerful chemical industry choke the landscape along the Niagara River. Blocks and blocks of boarded-up businesses mark Main Street. Key downtown landmarks sit vacant or barely used.

   Nearly one in five city residents lives below the poverty line.

   The median household income of $26,800 is roughly half the statewide figure of $43,393, according to the 2000 census.

   How could this happen in an international tourist destination?

   What can a mayor do to address such challenges?

   It's clear voters … most of them Democrats here … believe that their government CEO is no silver bullet when it comes to solving the city's pervasive problems. The last four mayors who've served the city have been one-termers.

   There's a lot of work to do. Hard work.

   Streets, sidewalks and brownfields need to be addressed.

   Tourist agencies and business interests need to more closely aligned.

   Somebody needs to convince competent, able developers to take a chance on a struggling city … and convince owners of existing businesses that such competition will benefit the city by bringing in more of the 20 million-plus visitors who travel from across the globe to the falls each year.

   And somebody needs to ensure that developers already in the city live up to their promises.

   A new governor, who seems somewhat enamored with Niagara Falls, sits in Albany. An influx of state aid, casino cash and Niagara Power Project relicensing money is beginning to flow into the city.

   A mayor who can harness the potential of the city, exercise vision and bring people together might make a difference in the next few years.

The election for mayor has already taken some unusual turns.

   Two candidates were out of the race before it officially began. The incumbent is out, too, but fighting to stay on the ballot. Meanwhile, the city's Democratic leadership has thrown its support behind a sitting councilman rather than the leader now in office.

   If he remains on the ballot, current Mayor Vince Anello will face Councilman Lewis "Babe" Rotella and former Councilman Paul Dyster in a Democratic primary. The winner will square off against Republican candidate Candra Thomason in November.

   Over the next few weeks, The Buffalo News will shed light on the issues by asking each candidate to respond to a series of questions. The final questions will be posed by readers.

--We would like to know from you:

--Why not Niagara Falls? What's holding this city back?

--What issues do you think are the most pressing?

--What kind of candidate are you are interested in?

--What disgusts you about this election and what would you like to see?

--What question would you most like to ask the mayoral candidates?

Here's your chance. Tell us what you think.

-- Niagara County Bureau Chief Scott Scanlon and Staff Reporter Denise Jewell

Comments

[Barton Keyes]

One of the problems with being able to address the challenges faced by a collapsing area economy is the straglehold the political establishment has over the levers of power. And that is no better exemplified than by the arcane but critical rules connected with petitions needed to get on the ballot.
The rules, initially designed to insure that only "serious" candidates get on any ballot, have degenerated into a mechanism to exclude candidates. Absent a rigorous review of all the legal requirements put into the law, the voiding of many of those petitions becomes a probability. Major parties, on the other hand, have the resources to train and mobilize effective petition collectors. Thus, their candidates virtually never have a problem getting on the ballot.
Hence, elections become nothing so much as confirmations of choices already made by the party. Elections rarely become a referendum on true change, or a mandate for a new direction. And given that the trend of millionaires running for public office hasn't reached Western New York, the public usually gets to "select" only an occasional new face and that from among the usual loyal party suspects.

[Paul Dyster]

Kudos to the News for putting the candidates on the record speaking to the issues. Unfortunately, in the on-line version of the story, the text is garbled, so that most of my platform is attributed to Republican candidate Candra Thomason. We have posted our submission in its entirety at our campaign website, www.dyster.com to try to straighten things out.

This is my third run for office as a Democrat in Niagara Falls, and I've NEVER been endorsed by the local party. I have to organize grassroots petition drives to compete with the patronage-fueled efforts of the party machine. It's hard, but we've managed to do it successfully three times in a row.

Early in the campaign, I endorsed efforts by Elliott Spitzer to simplify procedures for both registering to vote and petitioning to get on the ballot. None of the papers, including even the News, thought that this was newsworthy at the time. Hopefully that will change now.

The system is stacked in favor of maintaining the political status quo. There has to be some sort of "seriousness" test, not only to weed out frivolous candidates, but to prevent the machine itself from running "shill" candidates to siphon off votes from reform-minded, non-endorsed challengers. But if the number of required signatures is set too high, it makes it possible for political hacks to trade a few weeks worth of petition service every four years for a cushy patronage job. The system is broke--let's fix it!

[michael]

Politiacal back scratching, corrupt polatitians, and corrupt labor unions. Fix the above three and Niagra Falls will prosper. Too many kick backs, too many hands in the cookie jar, too much corruption. Cost of doing business in Niagra Falls is absured. Why do you think the Convention Center failed. It had the highest cost of renting out the facility in the country. Thats right folks in the entire country!! More than NYC, Chicago, San Francisco etc.. That is an absolute travisty, and it all boils down to the corruption. Unions and corrupt polititians are the only two reasons Niagra Falls is dying.

[michael]

Politiacal back scratching, corrupt polatitians, and corrupt labor unions. Fix the above three and Niagra Falls will prosper. Too many kick backs, too many hands in the cookie jar, too much corruption. Cost of doing business in Niagra Falls is absured. Why do you think the Convention Center failed. It had the highest cost of renting out the facility in the country. Thats right folks in the entire country!! More than NYC, Chicago, San Francisco etc.. That is an absolute travisty, and it all boils down to the corruption. Unions and corrupt polititians are the only two reasons Niagra Falls is dying.

[Jean]

The question I have for each of the candidates is: "What makes you more qualified than the other candidates?"

What in your past experience makes you believe that you can change a city that so many before you have failed at?

[John]

"How could this happen to an 'international tourist attraction?' " Hello? The "international tourist attraction" is on the OTHER side of the river. Why wasn't the American side of The Falls developed in the same manner as the Canadian side?

[Jerry from The Late Show]

Perhaps they should elect the same man who made the decision to purchase solar-powered street lamps for Cheektowga!

[Elliott J. White]

I was a recent candidate this year for City Council before being illegally being thrown off the ballot by a political system that is corrupt, ignorant and self serving.As a candidate I personally gathered 97% of the needed signitures to be on the ballot in september.In addition I gathered my signitures by knocking on hundred(s) of doors throughout the city utilizing updated voter registration information.

As required I turned in my signitres on 07/19/07 and of course the democratic commitee here put in a challenge which was ok with me because I knew that I worked very hard to acquire the needed signitres plus more than needed.

However, what I was not prepared for was the illegal acts by the Niagara County Board of Elections, They purposely took until 08/15/07 to make their determination to the challenge (27) days later, which was campaigning time lost and this is not the worst of it, after throughly reveiwing their findings to the challenges I realize that (3) complete pages were invaldied or 45 names because they stated I did not fill out the witness section correctly which was a blatant lie and their were various other illegal signiture invalidations that were clearly moved upon to knock me off the ballot, according to their findings.

They were banking on the fact that if I spent to $1500.00 to hire an attorney to go to court to be placed back on the ballot, for the Sept 18th primary,I would have had about (3) weeks to raise campaign funds and run a solid race.

As I was petitioning I spoke with hundreds of citizens that are truly in despair and are feeling let down by "every" aspect of leadership here whether politial, religous and business.

Why? because those that procalaim themselves leaders just can't seem to understand that good leaders help promote the well being of those that they are leading.

In order for Niagara Falls to turn around it is going to take intelligent, well informed people in office that truly have genuine concerns of the entire community at hand.

Their is false understanding of what leadership and power is in this city, those that are suppose to be leaders bow down to those that look at leadership as a position and/or a job with fringe benefits.

However leadership is bold, articulate, strengthening, visionary and has the best interest of those they serve as their guiding light.

For (14) years I have seen and experienced injustice in this city and I see a community that is so poverty stricken that it makes Buffalo seem like economic stronghold.

My question where are the senators, assemby persons, city council members, pastors, business leaders, tourism agencies, and Etc. I have come to truly understand that many of them are in their own little world trying to hold onto a false sense of leadership and/or power which in fact they are leading some of most impoverished people in the nation and things are not going to get better anytime soon without education and equal opportunities.

We have (2) candiates running for mayor one (1) who is very intelligent, extreemly active in the community for positive change, has the best interest of all it's citizens as his concern and one that has a positive-proven track record, This person being Paul Dyster.

On the hand we have Babe Rotella, a candidate that truly is a part of the Good "ol Boy system operating and one that has no clue or answers as to the negative reality that exsist here and has no clue as to positive potential that lies here if you incorpoate the best minds possble to get things done, but I know from experience living here that political patronage will be the drivivg force within his administartion if elected and this scares to hell out of me, to point that if he is elected I will relocate.

My statement to the community is simply (GOTV) Get Out To Vote it and get invloved it matters. This is your community and on election day you have an opportuity to take it back.

[Roy McDowell]

People never cease to amaze me. Elliot White states there are (2) candidates. The fact is, as of 9/4/07, there are (3) Candidates: Candra Thomason, Endorsed Republican Candidate, Paul Dyster, Endorsed Working Party Candidate/Conservative Party Candidate (ask yourselves how THAT happened...) and he will probably be the Independence Party representative after the Primary, and Lewis Rotella, whom, rumor has it, will be the Democratic Party representative after the primary... Paul Dyster and Lewis Rotella are in the midst of that primary battle for the Democratic Party line... Everybody on the same page now? And it's misleading statements like Mr. Elliot's that makes everything so much more difficult - Why can't people be more responsible for what comes our of their mouths? And don't be fooled by the rhetoric - the truth is Paul Dyster hasn't won every one of those "grassroots" efforts. And Lewis Rotella is just more of the "same ole, same ole"...

Candra is the only real candidate out there. I'm a die-hard Democrat, but my local "party" has me EMBARRASSED about being a member of that party. So I'm for Candra - BIG time. And again, don't be fooled, Paul Dyster's in the same boat as Lewis Rotella - more of the "same ole, same ole..." I'm ready for a REAL Person, a REAL Visionary, a REAL Leader, and that's Candra Thomason

Roy

[Roy McDowell]

PS.

Mr. Elliot has a MAJOR point when he says the system's fixed. How is it that Renee Kimble's petition(s) contained a dead person's signature?

Ah, Politics!!!

[Roy McDowell]

P.S.S.

OOPS!!! um, that should read: THE SYSTEM NEEDS TO BE FIXED! SEE, take responsibility!!!