All Aboard for the Increased Government Magical Government Tour

We want to welcome the Reporter readers who have chosen to ride along today for the Dyster administration's "increased government overhead tour."

Over there on your right is the famous - uh, infamous - Municipal Building, also known as the courthouse or Mayor Dyster's Main Street monument. At $50,000,000 it's about 35% over pre-construction estimates and will take thirty years to pay off. It costs an annual minimum $500,000 for routine maintenance. Shockingly, the budget busting project was never audited so we'll never know where all the money went.

Choo-choo, all aboard the Dyster administration train station! You can see the construction to your left, directly off Main Street. At a startling cost of just under $50,000,000 the train station will include the shuttered and never-opened Underground Railroad Interpretive Center. The center has been mired for the past four years amid accusations of improper project management by Paul Dyster's hand-picked - now gone - project administrator.

No one knows what it will cost to operate and maintain the train station because Paul Dyster and city planner Tom DeSantis aren't saying. Yes, you read that right, they're building a $50,000,000 transportation complex and have no idea of the day to day costs to run it. We do know that Dyster and DeSantis intend to hire a consultant to manage the facility. No surprise there.

Look to your east out the left hand window and you'll see a boarded up and dilapidated building...the former Highland Avenue fire hall which is the headquarters of the Isaiah 61 organization. While Dyster and Seth Piccirillo arranged a casino cash award of $500,000 for Isaiah 61 we have no knowledge as to where the half million dollars went or who actually owns the yet to be refurbished building. Looks like more ongoing maintenance costs for the good old city taxpayer to absorb. We understand the roof and back wall are unstable.

We're passing the Grand Island bridge, please take a gander at the Dyster-DeSantis LaSalle Waterfront Park. It ran well over budget when completed in 2012 but we'll never know by how much since it's just one more city hall secret. The restrooms have been seriously vandalized numerous times and for some strange reason the mayor refuses to install security cameras...hmm. The park was virtually unusable all winter because the city never plowed the parking lot.

As long as we're talking parks don't forget Jayne Park, the park project that the dynamic Dyster and DeSantis duo forced on Cayuga Island residents. The park renovation (or is that ruination?) has a wooden deck "overlook," a long and wide asphalt path to nowhere, seriously damaged grounds due to the "renovation" that require immediate attention, and 12 inches of rough cut dead tree wood chips blanketing the playground area.

We're now on the Porter Road overpass and you'll see the hundreds of trash and recycling totes that are, inexplicably, piled up in the DPW corporation yard. City hall never said how many totes were initially bought, how many additional totes were later purchased and how many of the new large sized blue trash totes were recently delivered so there is no way to calculate the total rollout cost of the failed Dyster-Owens trash plan.

Batter up! We all dearly love the historic Sal Maglie stadium which you can see up ahead. Now that Dyster took the stadium back from the school district. His Honor has decided to contract out stadium operations to a private entity.

Mayor Dyster has swung and missed twice in his effort to find that stadium operator so the sports venue is yet one more costly foul ball for taxpayers.

While this tour is over we want you to know there are Dyster increased government overhead additions on the drawing board that will come to life soon enough: an animal shelter that's conservatively estimated to cost an annual $800,000 to operate; a skate park that will require daily care and attention; and, a dog park where pups will frolic and play to the tune of the taxpayer. Can you say "pooper scooper" city job description?

We trust you found our tour to be both enjoyable and informative...we hope you'll join us for the "Dysfunctional and non transparent government tour" that's coming soon.

The Niagara Falls Municipal Building cost $500,000 a year to maintain.

Lest we forget: City Hall, 2015. Home of the $100,000 department heads.