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ANELLO FAMILY FOLLIES

Back in October 2007, former mayor Vincenzo V. Anello was working overtime trying to bring shame and humiliation to the great city of Niagara Falls.

He hadn't been indicted yet, but the FBI was conducting almost weekly raids on City Hall, walking away with boxes of documents and computer hard drives, gathering evidence they hoped would convict the crook who was elected mayor on charges of bribery.

And just three months earlier, he'd been involved in an altercation with a prominent city businessman that would lead a judge to issue a restraining order against him.

The mayor's secretary, his daughter Vincenette Anello, attempted to outdo her criminal father, hosting a bodacious beer blast in the mayor's office after hours and then posting photos of the squalid affair on MySpace.com.

And no sooner had that scandal blown over than the mayor's brother, Matteo Anello, got himself arrested at a City Council meeting. For the Anello family, city residents discovered, stupidity seems to be a genetic trait.

Matteo showed up at the Council meeting prepared to tear into then-chairman Bob Anderson, who is perhaps the nicest guy ever to serve on that august body. While Matteo had never heard Anderson make any derogatory statements about people of Italian ancestry, someone told him Anderson did in fact make such statements.

In reality, Anderson often made derogatory statements about one person of Italian ancestry, and that was Matteo's brother, the mayor.

Matteo wouldn't stop talking when he was asked to and one thing led to another and the police became involved. Matteo struggled with his arresting officer, which is never a smart thing to do but, by that point, no one was accusing anyone in the Anello family of being smart.

Long story short, Matteo Anello sued the city, a case that drags on to this day.

As this is being written, Vince Anello is attempting a political comeback despite his status as a convicted federal criminal and ex-con. The status of daughter Vincenette is unknown, though presumably her parties are held in venues more private than the mayor's City Hall office.

Matteo's case has been held up for more than a year because he steadfastly refused to allow attorneys for the city to see a copy of the text he was reading at the time of his arrest. The lawsuit is now scheduled to be heard on May 15, and the shame and embarrassment caused by the Anello family will continue for the foreseeable future.

Niagara Falls Reporter www.niagarafallsreporter.com April 3 2012