When Mayor Irene Elia took office in January, 2000, she ended the century-old practice of performing weddings at City Hall. There were more important things for the mayor to do, she said.
Now, three years later, the former nun has decided to turn City Hall into a tavern for an evening, allowing revelers to booze it up to their heart's content and run willy-nilly about the venerable building's twisting staircases and precarious balconies.
On Saturday, Feb. 22, Elia will host the Main Street Business and Professional Association's "Steppin' Out" celebration at City Hall, a $55-a-plate function catered by -- surprise -- her family business, the Comfort Inn.
Elia is past head of the Main Street organization and was named their "Businessperson of the Year" despite the fact she never ran a private business on Main Street. And although the majority of her constituents could not afford to attend the event, Elia seems downright giddy about her opportunity to welcome fellow country clubbers from Lewiston, Youngstown and other environs.
The move is unprecedented. Even during the relatively boozy administration of Michael J. O'Laughlin there was never a cash bar set up at City Hall. The practice of serving free champagne at the City Council's New Year's Day swearing-in ceremony was ended more than 20 years ago, after the Law Department expressed reservations about the city's potential liability.
All kidding aside, people in the insurance industry, catering and even members of the City Council have serious reservations about turning the place where the people's business is conducted into party central for Elia and her well-heeled friends.
Among the concerns:
"The past three mayors have shot themselves in the foot with a gun," said one Pine Avenue caterer. "This one shoots herself with a cannon."
The caterer is well versed both on the state's "off-premises" liquor laws and on the legal liabilities.
"The legal repercussion comes back both to me, and on the household. In this case, City Hall would be the household," he said.
Councilman Vince Anello, who announced last week he would oppose Elia in the upcoming mayoral election, said he is also concerned about the city's potential liability.
"If I would have been given the opportunity, I would have addressed these potential safety issues," he said. "As a former tavern owner, I'm always fearful of the liability."
Anello said that the first time the City Council was apprised of the mayor's booze bash was when they received the invitations. He said that council members do not know what -- if any -- fee the Main Street Business and Professional Association will pay for the use of City Hall.
Reporter founder and Publisher Bruce Battaglia said he wished he would have known that City Hall was available as a site for gala and gin-soaked parties.
"We just had our 100th issue celebration," he said. "It would have been great to have had it in that beloved and hallowed hall."
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | February 11 2003 |