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Imagine for a moment, if you will, that you're the head of a corporation doing around $120 million worth of business every year. You need to pick a chief executive, someone to represent you and stand up for your interests, as well as those of the rest of your shareholders. Someone to inspire. Someone who's worth a damn.
Now imagine you have two candidates for the position.
The first entered the United States military at a young age, rose through the ranks from enlisted man to officer and ended up serving in the White House. Ramrod straight and a real good guy to boot.
The second is a deadbeat from way back, who ran a sunglasses stand and a tacky leather shop into bankruptcy. What's more, he once stiffed a guy you're going to have to do business with to the tune of around $50,000 during the course of that bankruptcy.
Hard choice, huh? Not really. But if you picked No. 2, you're apparently pretty much qualified to be the mayor of Niagara Falls.
Retired Lt. Col. Danny Bristol is an old Bishop Duffy boy, born and bred in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
He joined the Air Force in the mid-'70s to do what he could for our country. A blue-collar kid with a lot of ambition, he kept on trying to improve himself. Degrees in economics and business management from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., combined with stuff he learned at our country's Air War College, helped to produce a man of unique talents.
He eventually went to Spain, where he matriculated at the Valencia School of Economics and Law.
And, along the way, Bristol happened to pick up some of our country's highest commendations, including the Legion of Merit and the Air Force Commendation Medal (with an oak leaf cluster).
When George H.W. Bush was elected president in 1988, he asked Bristol to give him a hand with security. When Pope John Paul II visited America, Bristol was again called upon to manage the event. And when the president's son, George W. Bush, became president after the disputed election of 2000, he asked Bristol to become a member of his team, as assistant chief information officer.
That last part was, of course, after Mayor Irene Elia had turned him down for the job as city administrator here in Niagara Falls.
You see, despite his credentials, despite his management experience with the 107th Air Refueling Wing, at the headquarters of the Air Force in Washington, D.C. and at the White House -- and despite the fact he loves Niagara Falls and wanted to return -- Bristol said something the mayor couldn't stomach.
In their final interview, Bristol told Elia he wouldn't knowingly do anything he knew to be wrong, despite whatever orders he had from anybody. And that was it. They never spoke again.
I'm sure he said the same thing to whomever interviewed him in Washington. And, as much as I've been critical of the two Bush administrations over the years, I've got to hand it to them for the canny knack displayed in hiring a guy like Lt. Col. Danny Bristol to handle their affairs.
By contrast, look at what we've got.
City Administrator Al Joseph is another Air Force veteran, but with a far less stellar record. Despite similar time served as an officer as Bristol, Joseph was cashiered as a lowly captain, stuck for years before his retirement at some obscure base in the South.
In bankruptcy following his discharge, Joseph all but admitted to the court he was incapable of managing two crummy novelty stands in David Cordish's Rainbow Centre Mall, claiming a total debt of nearly a quarter-million dollars.
He further claimed $4,885 in monthly expenses, including $350 a month for "lunches and cigarettes." Imagine a guy making that kind of money who only spends $350 a month on lunches and cigarettes. On top of that, he once stiffed Cordish himself for $47,827.96 in rent. The same David Cordish whom Joseph's now doing business with on behalf of the city.
Oh, the ignominy! What could have been and what should have been.
We're stuck with a washout, while a real Top Gun is sitting in the White House, all because Mayor Irene Elia couldn't stand the thought of dealing with a real man of principle.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | July 23 2002 |