Our hats are off this week to state Assemblywoman Francine Del Monte for her strong support of using the local share of revenue from the Seneca Niagara Casino to benefit the city of Niagara Falls and for her opposition to the ridiculous idea that a "supermajority" of casino cash commission members would be needed to approve various projects before any of the money could be spent.
And, while we applaud commission Chairman Charles Gargano's decision to postpone any meetings until after Councilman Vince Anello is sworn in as mayor, he made a couple of statements last week that make us wonder if this whole thing isn't just some sham designed to funnel the local share back into the state's coffers.
Gargano also heads up the Empire State Development Corp., which, in turn, controls Niagara USA Development. Last week, he told reporters that Niagara USA Development should be eligible to receive money from the local share.
The state already takes three-quarters of the money generated from the casino, around $30 million annually. Why should one of its agencies get additional funding from the relatively measly $10 million received by Niagara Falls?
And isn't Gargano's dual role as casino commission chairman and de facto head of the state agency in question a massive conflict of interest?
We think so.
Gargano also for the first time publicly floated the "supermajority" idea last week. In other words, four of the five voting members of the commission would have to agree on any spending proposal.
This idea only surfaced after Mayor Irene Elia -- who would have gone along with any proposal made by Gargano and his boss, Gov. George Pataki, threw up -- lost the election and thus her seat on the commission.
The voting members of the commission will consist of Gargano, Anello, Del Monte, state Sen. George Maziarz and soon-to-be City Council Chairman Charles Walker. State Sen. Byron Brown and Niagara Falls accountant Steve Brown will be non-voting members.
Under the "supermajority" concept, any money not approved for spending by the commission would revert back to, you guessed it, the state.
We would urge all commission members to keep a close eye on their chairman. Gargano is a slick operator from New York City who made his bones raising millions of dollars for Pataki, President George W. Bush and the Republican Party.
If he has his way, money targeted to help the people of Niagara Falls will instead be used to pad the budgets of Niagara USA Development, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority and other state agencies whose record here in the past has been nothing short of dismal.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | December 16 2003 |