<<Home Niagara Falls Reporter Archive>>

Sirianni Wants to Stop The Bickering in Town of Niagara Government

By Mike Hudson

Richard Sirianni
Charles Teixeira

Niagara-Wheatfield School Board member Richard Sirianni is looking to become part of the Town of Niagara Council, and insiders say he has a reasonable shot given the contentiousness with which town government has been run in recent months.

His campaign slogan, "Stop bickering!" says it all. He is particularly dismayed about how the recent indictment of Supervisor Steve Richards by the State Attorney General's office has consumed town business.

"I think there is a lot of bickering in the town, and they are zeroing in on Steve Richards,” he said. “I feel, let the system play out. No matter how you feel, I don't want to go to council meetings arguing about Richards. Whether he is guilty or innocent, let it play out in the court where it should play out.”

Sirianni is a fighter. Diagnosed with leukemia last year, he went into the hospital for 78 days. His illness is now in remission, he said.

Although registered as a Democrat, he did not seek the Democratic endorsement to run. He is running against incumbent Democrat Charles Teixeira on the Republican and Conservative lines.

Fifteen months ago, Sirianni received the most votes of anyone in the history of the Niagara-Wheatfield School Board, more than 2,600. The votes of course came from both the Town of Niagara and Wheatfield, but the result would seem to give him a reasonable shot at the office to which he now aspires.

"With my past experience in working on boards, a past union president and two different boards of directors, I think I can bring something to the table that could possibly help the residents of our town,” he said.

Anthony Casilio, a Town of Niagara resident who has gotten to know Sirianni through the school board, agreed.

“One of the things that are first apparent when you meet Richard Sirianni is his honesty and his respect for all those with whom encounters,” Casilio said. “He utilizes these attributes in all his public service endeavors.”

Sirianni has gone on record as supporting the proposed expansion of the Factory Outlet Mall on Military Road, a project that - like many other things in the town - has become controversial.

"That project is about jobs," he said, adding that the tax revenues generated by the mall would not only be beneficial to town residents, but county residents as well.

 

 

Niagara Falls Reporter - Publisher Frank Parlato Jr. www.niagarafallsreporter.com

OCT 29, 2013