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Maybe now they won't take the money.
A few months back, we asked local politicians why they continued to take money from Laborers Local 91 when the union was the target of a federal grand jury probe. Some had good answers. State Sen. George Maziarz, for example, said, "You know what, you're right. I'm not taking their money anymore."
Others, including state Rep. Francine DelMonte and state Sen. Byron Brown mouthed the usual platitudes about being innocent until proven guilty or somesuch and said that, not only would they continue to take the money, they wished Local 91 would give them more.
They would wait, they said, until the union leadership was actually indicted before not accepting the filthy lucre.
In the county Legislature, Clyde Burmaster, Renae Kimble and Dennis Virtuoso were the Laborers' champions, each taking as much cash as they could get their hands on. Virtuoso returned the favor by getting union Steward Paul Bellreng a seat on the county IDA board.
This at the same time that union members were responsible for shutting down the Williams Road project after attacking a state official. When a guy who wanted to build a hotel on Buffalo Avenue was shut down due to extortion. At the same time union members beat up a newspaperman and stole newspapers critical of their criminal behavior.
And at the same time that construction costs in Niagara County routinely ran 40 percent higher than anywhere else in the country.
The politicians took the money with a nod and a wink, pretending that what they knew was happening was not. While they talked about things like "economic development," "progress" and "justice," they made their beds with individuals who made these things impossible. The same guys now behind bars or out on bail were for years welcome guests at all the best political fundraisers.
Well, the chickens have come home to roost. The leadership of Local 91, Butch Quarcini, Mark Congi, Andy Shomers and the rest, are now under indictment. The 40-year history of beatings, bombings, vandalism, intimidation and extortion is now, hopefully, at its end. And here we publicly ask Francine, Byron and the rest of the county legislators, city councilmen, judges and other elected hacks whether they will continue to take money made on the misery of others.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | May 21 2002 |