What's to Become of 2015?

(The Niagara Falls Reporter, as other publications sometimes do, is making its annual predictions at the beginning of the new year. Come back next year at this time and see how many of them come true.) 

Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster will continue to use casino cash, casino fund interest, and bed tax dollars exactly as he pleases while claiming, “It’s not taxpayer money.”

The mayor will come out of the gate in early spring with a street paving and repair program targeting key city voting districts.

The 2015 budget will be manipulated after April when it’s “opened” with money moved around like a pea under a walnut shell exposing the 2015 budget process as the sham it truly was. 

All budget problems will be laid at the feet of city employees due to “employee pay, pension and health care costs.” The controller (the highest paid city hall employee) and council majority (Charles Walker will receive lifetime health insurance for part time service) will join the mayor (the mayor will receive lifetime health insurance for part time service) in slamming the city employees throughout the year. 

While blaming the city employees for the budget problems, Dyster and his council majority will give favored employees raises, stipends and overtime while claiming that retirement costs for the city are out of control. 

The concerns of there being no “morals clause” in the city’s NFC loan program will be raised in the media but the mayor, as chairman of the NFC, will ignore the matter and keep handing out loans and grants to friends of his administration. 

The mayor’s reelection campaign and the city’s street paving, park maintenance and all other programs will be coordinated in order for the mayor to obtain maximum reelection benefit via media coverage.

There will be plenty of well timed “progress reports” on the Hamister hotel project between March and November. But it remains unclear if the hotel will actually begin next year, the following year or never.

There will be plenty of well timed “progress reports” on the Wonderfalls project between March and November. Nothing will be built next year.

There will be an abundance of photo-ops and progress reports regarding the train station as the project grows in cost.   

The Underground Railroad Interpretive Center lawsuit won’t be settled and the building will remain shuttered as the work and expenses of the project’s commission defy investigation.   

Mayor Dyster will cut the ribbon to the Jayne Park John Maroon walking path to local media fanfare in the spring, secure in his belief that he’s pleased the Cayuga Island residents with the ghastly "improvement" of Jayne Park and secured their vote. 

The mayor will continue to violate the city charter by refusing to hire a city engineer as he insists on using an engineering consultant at greater cost to the city taxpayer.

After handing a $20,000 retirement incentive to many city hall employees the mayor will slowly bring his favored retired employees back into city hall as part of his “retire and rehire” program, which contradicts what Dyster claims to have accomplished by awarding the incentives in the first place. 

There will be no effort by the mayor to raise private sector funds for the 2015 Hard Rock Guitar Drop and the mayor and council majority will continue to use casino or bed tax funds to gift the Hard Rock because “it’s not taxpayer money!” 

The mayor will seek his usual large campaign contributions from the fire department PAC but he’ll be denied as the firemen throw their support to another candidate…unless the mayor makes labor concessions that fly in the face of all he has said about city employees being the root of all budget evils.

The financial problems of Lockport will be reviewed with that review having possible significant impact upon the Dyster administration.

The trash and recycling ordinance will continue to limp along as fines are issued to ordinance violators resulting in confusion and upset for affected residents. 

With the train station nearing completion, the hopes of the Dyster administration to secure federal money for its operation will vanish under the control of the Republican US Senate causing Dyster and the council majority to use casino funds and casino account interest to open and operate the train station.

The Dyster administration will hire a consultant to manage the train station once it’s open. With no consultant money to access within a deficit budget it will be drawn from casino funds. The mayor will do this while chanting his mantra “it’s not taxpayer dollars.”

The Dyster administration, after spending more than $100,000 for parking studies, will hire a consultant to manage the city’s “parking plan.” The consultant and parking plan overhead will consume most of the parking receipts. 

Old Falls Street will remain “shop-less” as all tourism activity and visitor dollars are directed to the State Park as planned.   

Development in the Military Road area will continue to expand. Mayor Dyster will continue to pretend he played a role in the development.

The relationship between the Dyster administration and Seneca Niagara Casino will remain non-existent as city hall refuses to meet with the Senecas for the benefit of the city.

Mayor Dyster will continue to chase his Niagara Experience Center much the same way Captain Ahab pursued Moby Dick.