The first returns on Election Day weren't official. Or even legal, since the votes were cast by students at Niagara Middle School, all of whom were (hopefully) well under 18.
The results came in to the Niagara Falls Reporter offices anyway -- Vince Anello 400, Mayor Irene Elia 67.
That was at 3 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. Things didn't get a lot better for the incumbent from there.
That Anello won couldn't, or shouldn't, have shocked anyone. After all, Niagara Falls has had, for the last 15 years at least, an unofficial mayoral term limit of one.
But no one -- not Anello, not the Democrats who spent more than a year plotting Elia's defeat, not the Republicans who cut her loose to fend for herself, not even the "negative" elements of the local media she campaigned against and blamed for her landslide loss -- anticipated Anello taking nearly three votes to every one cast for Elia.
Of course, Elia herself won handily in 1999. Like Jake Palillo and James Galie before her, that substantial margin of victory may have been her undoing.
"They all forgot that they got elected mayor, not God," said one veteran political observer.
That's a mistake worth remembering, and avoiding, for Anello as he prepares to move into the big office at City Hall.
His huge win was at least as much a rebuke of the way his predecessor, and her predecessors, conducted the city's business in the past as a mandate of his vision of the city's future.
Each of the three mayors before him took office vowing a new way of governing. And each time, the new way turned out to be remarkably similar to the old way, with patronage distribution, fierce parochialism and personal vendettas taking precedence over what was best for all of Niagara Falls.
Things stayed stagnant for so long around here because the people who needed to sign off on any new idea didn't see how they and the people around them could benefit from it, or because it didn't fit their particular vision for Niagara Falls. Assuming they actually had visions, that is.
Despite campaign claims to the contrary, the Seneca Niagara Casino opened 10 months ago for one reason, and one reason only -- because New York State officials decided to completely exclude city officials from negotiations and planning.
The casino broke the ice jam that's encased Niagara Falls' economy since Urban Renewal knocked it flat more than 30 years ago. Keeping things moving, though, requires the sort of spin-off development that will provide jobs to raise the standard of living for city residents and keep this generation and those that follow it here.
Simply relying on the state and its development arm -- USA Niagara -- to do that on its own isn't enough.
Niagara Falls needs its place at the table back, and someone to sit there who plays well with others.
That person clearly wasn't Elia. Her harrumphing and nose-holding alienated city workers, block club members, business owners, developers, and finally even the senior citizens who theoretically formed her core constituency.
In the end, she couldn't even garner the support of middle-school students who passed her expensive campaign billboards on the way to and from class every day.
Anello takes office in a position that each of the last three mayors must envy, at least a little. The city charter dictates that his replacement on City Council has to be from the same party, so he's guaranteed a working majority of 4-1 for at least his first two years in office.
The two men who swept into office with Anello, Lewis "Babe" Rotella and Bob Anderson, each bring tremendous personal and professional experience to the Council. Perhaps more importantly, neither carries a political axe in need of grinding, nor aspirations for higher office.
Rotella, Anderson and a few hundred other people filled the back room at the Como Restaurant on Pine Avenue on Election Night. The buzz grew steadily from the moment the first returns, showing Anello leading handily, were posted. The last nine districts reported shortly before 10 p.m., making official what had become obvious as the evening progressed.
When those last numbers, cast by an overhead projector, went up on the screen, the room erupted into cheers.
Certainly, the ovation was in no small part for Anello. He ran a clean, hard race from the February night when he declared his candidacy at the LaSalle American Legion Post and through a fierce four-way Democratic Primary. After emerging with the nomination, he stayed focused on the issues throughout the fall, avoiding myriad attempts by the Elia campaign to goad him into losing the temper his detractors were sure would be his downfall.
Yes, the crowd at the Como cheered Anello. But the cheers were also for a city craving the sense of hope that comes with a fresh start.
As a business owner, homeowner and City Councilman, Anello saw first-hand the mistakes that turned the cheers heard by his predecessors on their big nights into something much less pleasant.
Let's be honest -- there's only so much the mayor, or any elected official, can accomplish. Most of the elements needed to turn Niagara Falls around -- particularly investment capital, and lots of it -- are beyond the reach of City Hall. The success or failure of Anello's administration will hinge on attitude more than action.
The blunders and intransigence of Elia, and to a lesser degree, Galie and Palillo, helped put Anello in office. Avoiding their fate is up to him.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | November 11 2003 |