What a Difference a Day Makes

The late Robert Anderson's legacy is discussed. Painted fire hydrants adorn Niagara Falls.

Monday November 30 was one of those under the radar sort of days that very well may go down in the annals of city history as a major turning point. November 30 was a city council meeting day that: mourned the loss of a council member;  witnessed the reveal of a citizen panel finance plan; and, received a report from the mayor regarding the unending residential frozen water line issue.  All of this occurred while just a few blocks from city hall the loss of 200 jobs at the DuPont facility had been announced.

The irony of the eliminated jobs being reported in the media as elected city officials blathered over financial problems they created, and the scandalous lack of running water in a city neighborhood they failed to address for two years, wasn't lost on the residents. It's been this sort of blame dodging and responsibility shirking that landed the city in the financial briar patch it now occupies.

The passing of Councilman Bob Anderson, the voice of a common-sense-common-man, was all the more painfully obvious as the council meeting droned on and matters of running water and fiscal drama played out pointlessly.

As for the loss of 200 jobs at the DuPont facility political observers were left wondering if the eliminated positions came as a genuine surprise or was instead conveniently timed post-election bad news, withheld until Paul Dyster was back in office.  The Reporter asks, did the mayor and his economic development staff know DuPont was cutting those jobs? And, if so, did they do anything to address it? Or was it simply inconvenient news to be ignored and wished into the cornfield for fear of making Paul Dyster look bad? He's taken credit for new hotels and retail development he had no hand in, where does he see his role in this major job loss?

200 well-paying jobs connected to an industrial giant, now gone. Not to worry. Because we have a skate park coming on line, a dog park behind that, a train station on track, a $14 million ice pavilion boondoggle, $2.2 million in trash totes, a $2.4. million per year 30 year mortgage on a $50 million courthouse, along with a feel-good program that painted happy faces on fire hydrants, decorated vacant downtown storefronts and put colorful designs on the butt-end of alleyway buildings. If that's not enough to warm the cockles of the taxpayer heart the specter of a council/mayor/finance panel supported city-wide property reassessment looms ahead.

November 30, 2015. It's one for the books.