Mules are stubborn, no two ways about it. Have you ever tried to move one when the mule didn't want to go? You can cajole or threaten the mule, and he will not budge. You can pull or prod him, and he will not be moved. It can be raining buckets in a canyon or the prairie could be on fire -- he is not going anywhere. The mule will set his four hooves firmly in the dirt, pulling back with all his body weight to the point of planting his rump unceremoniously on the ground.
Then he won't look you in the eye.
Sound familiar?
Once again, Niagara Falls has yet another opportunity to be bold, decisive, open and forthright, and to make a difference for all its residents. And once again, it has lowered its haunches, driving its derriere into the dirt.
James Curtis, the 52-year-old Niagara Falls resident who admitted to slapping up the "Whites Only" water fountain sign at the city's Department of Public Works, slipped through the cracks and showed up at work at the end of his 20-day suspension. But he's not the real problem.
According to published media reports, Assistant Corporation Counsel Tom O'Donnell suggested he was not paying attention to the details of this ongoing case when he last spoke to the press. One would think he knew, or should have known, that the deadline for action was approaching and the city had to do something. His blatant failure creates the appearance of dereliction of duty and reflects poorly on an office already adrift. That's a problem.
Is he really distracted, or is he stubbornly refusing to look and advising the mayor to do the same? Perhaps other issues are burning hotter on the front burner, like wondering who his next boss is going to be.
One can assume Mr. Curtis is, at the very least, sitting at home and gathering a paycheck while apparently frightened city officials refuse to respond to the public. In fact, when our Assistant Corporation Counsel Richard Zucco was approached by a television reporter, he literally ran away. At a news conference called by the mayor to announce Curtis' arrest, the administration cowered from the press, refusing to answer the most fundamental questions by ducking into their offices.
This is not really about Mr. Curtis. It is about what the city is doing or not doing about addressing the conditions that led James Curtis to exhibit such asinine behavior. We would really like to know, but several phone calls to Mr. O'Donnell were not returned, and direct calls to the Department of Public Works and the Department of Human Resources resulted in turfing the responsibility to City Administrator Donna Owens, who was "not available" for comment and never returned the calls.
Something smells.
The city of Niagara Falls talks a good game with canned responses, touting "zero tolerance" for prejudicial behavior. Yet the current administration's recent declaration of fighting intolerance in the workplace belies the continuing daily struggles within the city's workforce. James Curtis' racially charged faux pas is merely a symptom of a deeper, arcane malignancy known all too well to Niagara Falls city employees: tacitly accepted racial prejudice.
And what is the city doing about it?
The mordant apathy of the city administration is best illustrated by its budget allocations, or lack thereof. For the past few years, the Human Rights Commission, housed in a City Hall closet, has been the proud recipient of a whopping $600 per year. What in the world is the commission supposed to do with that? We all know how far $600 goes these days -- not far at all. Maybe to Buffalo and back -- just don't order drinks with lunch.
So, how can the Human Rights Commission institute the programs so desperately needed within the city's workforce? The bottom line is, it can't. Without funds and the authority to act, the commission has no teeth. While the mayor and his administration espouse the cause of equality and zero tolerance on one hand, they have financially rendered the Human Rights Commission impotent with the other by failing to allocate the necessary resources to implement it.
The Human Rights Commission knows this and is working diligently on a plan to evolve the commission into an independent and effective structure with subpoena power, a full-time director, investigators and administrative support. This is definitely a move in the right direction, providing Niagara Falls with the fair and consistent ability to address and resolve these issues by re-establishing its ability to act appropriately, in a timely manner and by governing on behalf of, and being accountable to, all of its constituents.
Additional funding, available from the U.S. Department of Justice and other sources, can provide the opportunity to establish recurrent interdepartmental training which, if taken seriously, could end the suffering that is presently felt by everyone, black and white, and hopefully begin the healing process the city needs.
The mayor needs to step out of the shadow of the assistant corporation counsel and be open with the people of Niagara Falls. He might start by hiring competent legal staff committed to assuring the city complies with the law, and continuing the search for an experienced lead counsel as his top priority.
The mayor must demonstrate what zero tolerance really means by articulating and reflecting the policy in the budget. The mayor's 2009 proposed budget must include funding for the independent Human Rights Commission. City elected officials -- including the City Council, as well as the mayor -- can start this process by aligning their mouths with their money.
City administrators must look their constituents in the eye, be forthright and tell the truth. Instead of stubbornly secluding themselves in secretive silence, they must act together in everyone's best interest to address the deeper issues that have the potential to tear the city apart at the seams. Only then can they raise their haunches out of the dirt and move the herd forward into the 21st century, where the rest of the world impatiently waits for Niagara Falls to catch up.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | October 14 2008 |