Dyster's Frankenstein Creation Rises Up Against Him in Supreme Court!

In Mary Shelly's classic novel "Frankenstein," a mad scientific genius gives life to a monster that turns against him and attacks a nearby village. The outraged townspeople rise up, setting fire to the scientist's castle and killing both him and his unholy creation.

Things probably won't work out that badly for Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster, who tells people he's a genius, or for his unholy creation, the Niagara Falls Water Board. But the lawsuit filed against the city by the board last week may end up costing taxpayers millions of dollars and serves enough of a horror story on its own.

The water board has but one responsibility. Providing potable water to every household and business in the city while, at the same time, treating and disposing of the wastewater generated by those same homes and businesses.

The lawsuit, filed in state Supreme Court last week, has nothing to do with either of those responsibilities. In fact, it has been difficult for the Niagara Falls Reporter or any other area media outlet to find any public official interested in those things or willing to talk on the record about them.

For two years now, numerous households on 72nd Street in the city have gone without water service in the winter because of a badly botched street repaving project initiated by Dyster to fulfill his campaign promise of being the "Repavingest Mayor Ever!" Behind the scenes, the mayor and the water board have been bickering about who should have to fix the problem, even as 72nd Street residents have had to wear unwashed clothes to work and shave in the restrooms of nearby gas stations.

In another, unrelated but long simmering dispute between the board and Dyster, a $700,000 annual payment by the board to the city under a 2003 agreement signed by both parties has been criticized by the board ever since. The $700,000 has been paid, but under protest.

It all finally came to a head last Monday when city Council members -- tired of being the butt of opprobrium by 72nd Street residents and miffed to the max by the refusal of the board's $110,000-a-year executive director, Paul Drof, to appear before them and answer some questions about the situation -- openly discussed the possibility of dissolving the board.

On Tuesday, the board filed its lawsuit, asking the court to throw out the $700,000 annual payment. Board Chairman Ted Janese said in a statement that repeated attempts to sit down with Dyster and discuss the matter like gentlemen were rebuffed, leaving the board no choice other than to sue.

Life imitates art, they say, and truth is stranger than fiction. More than any other person, Paul Dyster is responsible for the creation of the water board, an experiment that he, like Dr. Frankenstein before him, has come to regret.

With the monster to which he gave life now attacking him, and the beleaguered residents of 72nd Street rummaging through their garages in search of pitchforks, Dyster's hold on the Main Street castle known as City Hall is slipping.

Even Mary Shelly couldn't have made some of this stuff up.

 

In the Frankenstein story, an angry mob sets fire to Dr. Frankenstein's castle killing him and the monster.

 

To remove the present monster, it will take the political courage of the City Council and the energy of an usually apathetic electorate. The council will have to take over the water board and the electorate will have to vote for a mayor with common sense, who puts the needs of the residents ahead of the moneyed interests of Buffalo, and Albany.