Destino:  I'm Leaving GOP as a Matter of Principle

Margaret Thatcher once noted, "The facts of life are conservative." Conservatism is not so much an ideology as it is the recognition that government can’t change human nature.

I am sure there will be all manner of speculation as to why I am leaving the Niagara County Republican Party, but the simple fact of the matter is "they" don’t want someone like me.

"They" are the party leaders and political functionaries who value blind obedience over principle and honest discourse. They view politics as a game where the objective is to secure power for one group of people at the expense of others. Because of this, Niagara County is suffering.

Niagara Falls has become the dumping ground of first resort as downstate interests ship their undesirables to Western New York as a solution to the problems they caused for themselves. And for this, our Republican leaders praise how efficiently Albany has been operating since they rolled over and stopped fighting for Western New York.

I, for one, won’t be a part of this. It’s not in my nature to pretend that everything is fine when it so clearly isn’t getting better. I am completely incapable of ignoring my convictions for the sake of party unity where matters of principle and conviction are concerned. Others do so with great facility. They ought never to be trusted.

I don’t disparage the thousands of hard-working Republicans who believe that by electing Republicans to office we are promoting conservatism – or smaller government. However, we must open our eyes and witness what’s happened. Our senior-most elected officials have been cheer leading for bigger and more intrusive government and have completely abandoned protecting Western New York from downstate’s insatiable appetite for our resources.

In exchange for what? We need to get past the party labels because Republican vs. Democrat is a false dichotomy in local politics today – particularly in Niagara County. It’s not right vs. left that we should be concerned about, but right vs. wrong. After meeting thousands of voters in both parties over the past two years, I can honestly say that party labels are meaningless when it comes to fighting to protect our resources from being shipped downstate.

What people want is a restored sense of pride in their hometown. They can’t understand why this area never catches a break. It is painful to accept that most of our wounds are self-inflicted. Poor leaders making bad decisions are only a part of the reason we find ourselves among the least prosperous places in the country.

It’s the corrupt nature of our local politicians that have really hurt us over the past several decades.

Unfortunately, we have had single party rule for too long in Niagara County. Much like the current situation in Albany, where there is no effective opposition, we get "efficient" government. All sorts of laws and regulations get passed that upset citizens on both sides of the political spectrum merely for the sake of appearances – "Hey, look at us! We are getting things done!" Left untouched are the really difficult tasks of actually making Western New York a better, safer place to live and conduct business.

You won’t get a photo-op or a ribbon-cutting ceremony for those accomplishments, so why jeopardize your chances for re-election by tackling the tough issues? My work on the NF School Board exemplifies what we need from our elected officials – taking a tough stand no matter how unpopular it makes you with your colleagues.

The current leadership of the Niagara County Republican Party successfully assumed control of the Niagara Falls City Republican Committee during this September’s primary election. In doing so, they pushed out a lot of loyal and long-time committeemen from Niagara Falls for not marching in lock-step with county leadership. Among the group of new leaders are people who actively worked against my mayoral campaign in 2011. In order to take over the committee, they engaged in deception and false promises. The county board of elections acted shamelessly too – failing to properly notify candidates that they would not be appearing on the ballot. I won my election to retain my seat on the county committee, but they can have it back. I no longer wish to be associated with these people.

The sad irony is that, to date, Niagara Falls Democrats have had a better chance of being cross-endorsed, given minor party lines, and receiving support from the Niagara County GOP than city Republicans.  I expect we will see more of this as the County GOP, through their new-found control over the NF GOP, begins their attempt at taking over our city government. We have already witnessed that they have no interest in working collaboratively with city officials and will take every opportunity to frustrate and prevent our success until they can take credit for it.

I am taking my stand today for the future of Niagara Falls.

My decision to switch to the Democratic Party is bolstered by the refreshing resurgence of new, young professionals in the area getting involved in politics with an eye toward working together in order to fix the problems the political dynasties have created. The new leadership has successfully defeated the Parenti/Maziarz power-couple and a rejuvenated party has emerged. Quite simply, we are in this for the right reasons. As young professionals, we don’t need to rely on the government for our livelihoods. We are starting our families and businesses here and now; we are taking our government back. I am certainly dedicated to helping build the bridge that we can all cross to make Niagara a better a place to live.