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Dyster’s big-government philosophy is not working

By Mike Hudson

Mayor Paul Dyster: For such a smart guy, he seems to think that big government rather than private enterprise and the free will of independent people is the solutions to everything.

For Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster, who never met a government program he didn't like, the dissolution of USA Niagara would be a disaster, despite the fact that the agency has failed entirely in its efforts to create permanent private sector jobs in the city over the past decade.

"Obviously, when it comes to USA Niagara, it's advantageous for us to have the agency here and we'd like to see that continue," he has said.

And while Dyster takes great pride and all the credit for taking properties like the former Rainbow Centre Mall off the tax rolls, and has engaged in open warfare with some of the biggest developers in the city, even Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo has said that private enterprise is the key to New York's future.

Dyster's big government philosophy is the polar opposite of that espoused by Cuomo.

While Dyster believes government to be the solution to every problem, Cuomo believes government itself to be the problem.

Unlike Dyster, State Assemblyman John Ceretto also embraces the concept of a downsized government, too.

"We have to make real cuts and we have to start now," Ceretto said. "Increasing taxes is yesterday's solution, and it's no longer sustainable."

Dyster's anti-business policies have generated negative publicity for the city around the state and the rest of the country. An article in Bloomberg's Business Week charged local government here with making "just about every mistake a city could make."

Anti-business initiatives such as limiting the height of downtown buildings to a stunted 80 feet and licensing owners of rental properties here do little to dispel the notion that Niagara Falls isn't interested in new money coming in. And raising taxes in what is already one of the most brutally taxed municipalities in the nation is nothing short of a kick in the teeth to those already trying to live or do business here.

Dyster pretends to be a progressive-thinking rock and roller. It's a matter of record that his idea of a good time is slamming shots of Jaegermeister with band members backstage at his taxpayer-funded Hard Rock Cafe extravaganzas.

But, no, Dyster seriously doesn't get it. But then he was the man leading the charge against Nik Wallenda's tightrope walk.

And afterward sent him a $25,000 bill that got us worldwide negative press as ungrateful cheapskates.

It's dumbfounding that the mayor of a city that is home to one of the world's premier tourist attractions opposed an event that was without question the single most exciting thing to happen here in decades. His opposition constituted a slap in the face to every single person involved in the tourism and hospitality industries.

His motivation was strictly political. Regardless of what he says, he was against the event because it was announced by State Sen. George Maziarz, his chief political antagonist.

Dyster's lone accomplishment as mayor would seem to be the creation of the most extravagantly expensive administration in the city's history, one loaded down with six-figure salaries and incompetent hires.

Numerous developers have complained that they can't get a meeting, or even a return phone call from the mayor.

Somewhere out there, there are some politicians who realize that private enterprise -- and not City Hall --is the key to the ultimate success or failure of Niagara Falls.

I hope we start to elect them soon.

 

 

Niagara Falls Reporter www.niagarafallsreporter.com Oct 16, 2012