Such is Public Works Director Paul Colangelo's dedication to the citizens of Niagara Falls that he recently agreed to drop a $1 million lawsuit against the city in exchange for a $75,000 payout from the nearly empty municipal treasury.
His lawsuit dates back to the administration of James Galie. Colangelo and Galie used to be best buddies. In fact, Colangelo stabbed his former benefactor, then-mayor Jake Palillo, in the back to manage Galie's successful first campaign.
Galie rewarded Colangelo with the job of public works director, a job Colangelo demonstrated a complete inability to do. When Galie removed him from the position, Colangelo sued the city and, in order to exact revenge, became Mayor Irene Elia's campaign manager.
When Elia replaced Galie, she returned Colangelo as head of the public works department. In the nearly three years since, Colangelo has again demonstrated his complete incompetence. Conditions at the Hyde Park golf course this year were so atrocious that the facility lost money for the first time in its history, the city's alleyways are often choked with garbage to the point of being impassable and few can remember a time when the streets were in such a general state of disrepair.
But Colangelo asks not what he can do for the city, he asks what the city can do for him. Despite receiving a fat $57,000-a-year salary, he continued playing hardball in court.
Like the mayor herself, Colangelo couldn't care less that police officers, firefighters and even employees of his own department are in danger of losing their jobs this holiday season. Like a vulture picking at the bones of a decaying carcass, he cares only about what's in it for him.
Paul Colangelo has been a big part of the problem in Niagara Falls for more than a decade. Aside from his role in the elections of the Three Stooges (a.k.a. Palillo, Galie and Elia), his parasitic world view allows him to see the city as a cash cow, existing solely to provide him with an undeservedly comfortable living.
In the private sector, Colangelo might be managing a McDonald's or the deli counter at Tops. Come November 2003, let's hope our next mayor sends him there.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | December 3 2002 |