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CASILIO A TOP LAWMAN

By Mike Hudson

You've got to hand it to the Niagara Falls City Council, who have raised the phrase "a day late and a dollar short" to an art form in their philosophy of governance.

First they were against the parking meters downtown, then they were for them, then they went against them again but, by the time they were supposed to vote on whether to get rid of them, they were for them again.

Total time elapsed? More than two years.

Just recently they decided to launch an investigation of using funding from anonymous donors to help fund the hiring of department heads and administration officials here. I know the objections, since I was the first one to bring them up, and I still object, although the mayor was kind enough to hear me out on it.

A week after I ran an article on what I still believe to be a fiasco in the making, the Council took action and called for state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli to investigate.

Under normal circumstances, I would have felt a great sense of accomplishment at influencing government -- even City Council -- to such a degree, but in this case I could not.

Because the same City Council that was now calling for the state to come in and investigate had approved the highly questionable approach to meeting payroll itself just a month earlier!

As former city councilwoman Connie Lozinsky Esq. and I said to each other more times than either of us could count in a conversation over the weekend, "What are you gonna do?"


Anyone who's waiting for state Rep. Francine Del Monte to issue a statement condemning county Democratic Committee Chairman Dan Rivera for putting his hands on former vice chairwoman Diane Roberts just might have to wait a long time.

Del Monte, of Lewiston and Albany, isn't taking calls about the matter.

So I decided to call her opponent in the upcoming state Assembly race, Paula Banks Dahlke, and see what she thought.

"It's never all right for a man to put his hands on a woman during an argument, never," she said. "I'm sure that, before the race is over, we'll see Francine standing in front of Carolyn's House, the shelter for battered women, talking about some money she says she got them, but here you have a woman being abused in her own organization and she doesn't say a word."

It is indeed puzzling how the former Niagara Falls resident manages to stay in office. But one can point out that Rivera -- whom Roberts also charged with making a screaming, harassing, obscenity-laced telephone call to her home -- is the same guy who used his job as an insurance investigator to dig up dirt used to smear Gary Parenti, who opposed Del Monte in the Democratic primary here two years ago.

Rivera's employers paid Parenti a hefty settlement, and Rivera was fired from his job, a fate that is also waiting for Del Monte, I would suspect.


Our old friend former Niagara Falls Police Lt. Art Casilio has thrown his hat into the ring for a spot on the Town of Porter Justice Court. Frankly, I can't imagine a better candidate.

Casilio spent 34 years as a peace officer, rising from patrolman to lieutenant, and testifying in hundreds of cases before city, county and state courts. While his court experience has dealt with everything from traffic misdemeanors to murders, Casilio gained a reputation as an expert in hazardous materials, the dangers they pose and the laws governing them.

He received 22 commendations during his years on the force here, including a number of Meritorious Service Awards and a pair of life-saving medals. He took the time during his career to attend specialized schools and certification programs, which resulted in a great understanding of all phases of law enforcement.

I don't see him as much as I used to. Since retiring from the NFPD in 2003, he's been working for the State Parks Police and getting the chance to spend more time with his lovely wife, Joanne, around their Youngstown home.

Best of luck, lieutenant.


I'll never understand people who have taxpayer-supported jobs turning to a life of petty crime. It's sad, and it makes you wonder whether they really are crooks or if there's just a screw loose somewhere.

Those working for the federal, state and local governments in Western New York generally earn quite a bit more than their counterparts in the ever-shrinking private sector, and their jobs are in many cases guaranteed for life, along with gilt-edged medical and retirement packages that those working in the private sector can only dream about.

So when one of them is caught, say, changing the price tag on a shirt at Target, you've got to wonder. Why would they jeopardize all that they have for some stupid thing they could have just bought anyway?

It crossed my mind this weekend when I read about State Trooper Joseph Cyran, who is accused of stealing some camera equipment from the public affairs office at the air base here. Cyran is also a master sergeant in the Air Force Reserve.

I hope it's all some big mistake. If it's not, I hope he gets some help.

Niagara Falls Reporter www.niagarafallsreporter.com June 17 2008