The Column That Launched Niagara Rises
Back in Feb. 2007 I wrote a column in the Niagara Falls Reporter suggesting the formation of a think tank to help the city of Niagara Falls.
Now, several years and several hundred members later Niagara Rises is a force to be reckoned with.
Here’s a look back at that original column.
Think Tank Needed In Niagara Falls
By Frank Thomas Croisdale
Frank Thomas Croisdale with Norma Higgs
It wasn’t exactly an epiphany; that’s too generous of a term. It was more like a moment of clarity and it came to me recently after digesting two local news stories.
The first was that the city of Niagara Falls would be boosting the salary of the mayor to $78,000. That’s $48,000 more than the job paid in 2006. The second was that Leadership Niagara named Henry “Mickey” Sloma its “Leader of the Year.”
Before we break down both of these issues, here’s the thought that came to me: We’re nowhere and only we can get ourselves out of the bed we’ve failed to make. Digest that for a moment, if you will. Therapists call it “accepting ownership for your problems,” and it’s something we have done a poor job of around here for decades.
By “we,” I mean all of us. You, me, the taxpayers, the system-riders, the vocal fringe, the silent majority, the mom-and-pops, the big corporations, the public and the press. We’re guilty because we grumble and carp, and we point and blame, but in the end we sit by and watch the same movie with the same sad ending loop over and over again.
Shame on us!
Take the mayor’s salary issue, for starters. At first I was amused as I watched the television coverage out of Buffalo. The news anchor was doing a voice-over as the screen filled with Mayor Vince Anello’s image.
“The City Council feels the increased salary will draw more qualified candidates to the position,” said the news anchor.
Ha, ha, good joke — the implication being that the current mayor is a wonderful example of the type of incompetence $30,000 will buy you these days. Then it dawned on me: Who is the joke on, anyway? Anello? No, it’s on you and me, that’s who.
The Sloma story is just another slice from the same pie. This guy floats around the political scene like an apparition caught between heaven and hell. What he does, no one is quite sure, but he sits on more boards than a room full of glazed ceramics.
This past December, he initiated a tax break for AES that has led to Donald Trump-levels of litigation and has the folks in Somerset, Appleton and Barker ready to secede from Niagara County. Some leader of the year.
The head of Leadership Niagara, Frank Maietta, said the decision was made to honor Sloma early in the year before he became headline fodder. That’s like a boxing judge saying, “We awarded the fight to Frazier after the first five rounds. Ali’s knockout in the 12th was a day late and a dollar short.”
Maietta then added, “What kind of leadership organization would we be if we made a decision and backed down from it?” One that had some integrity, for starters. Giving Sloma the Leader of the Year award is akin to slapping a sash across Britney Spears and anointing her Mother of the Year. You know, the panty-less bar-hopping and rides with junior sans car seat all came later in the year, once the balloting had closed.
So we roll our eyes and curse our luck, and then we elect the next Vince Anello and we appoint Henry Sloma to another board of directors. Again, shame on us.
Here’s a novel idea: Why not up the mayor’s salary to $1 million a year? Seriously. We have a world-renowned city that draws millions of tourists each year. We also have a casino that pays the city millions in revenue annually. Why not take $1 million of that cash cow and go after a mayor from the big leagues? Draft a resolution to give it a four-year trial. I’ll bet that someone with the credentials that would draw would find all sorts of revenue streams to repay the city for its generosity.
Here’s a prediction. Many of you will write me to say you think floating a million-dollar lure to have a big-city mayor is a brilliant idea. I know, because I’ve traveled that road with you many times before.
When I wrote that the old Hippodrome Theater should be renovated as the centerpiece to “Little Italy,” you responded en masse. One party even wrote to say they possessed the theater’s original box office and would donate it to the restoration team.
Then there was the time I wrote that the city needed to reclaim its “Honeymoon Capital of the World” heritage. I even offered the slogan “You fell for each other, Niagara Falls for you” as the focal point of an advertising campaign to go after regional honeymooners. That led to an avalanche of e-mails from all across the country, one from a Madison Avenue firm attempting to woo me into becoming part of their creative team.
There have been a handful of other times when I’ve floated ideas that, just like the aforementioned examples, seemed to pique the interest of the public.
Guess whose interest wasn’t stimulated? You got it — the movers and shakers of Niagara Falls. The response from your elected officials to ideas that got your juices flowing couldn’t mask the sound of a pin dropping onto a carpeted floor. I’m not sure if their silence speaks volumes about their ignorance or their callous indifference.
Getting back to my moment of clarity, it occurs to me this newspaper has spent a lot of printer’s ink criticizing the politicians and string-pullers of Niagara Falls for their ineptitude. That’s our job, and we take great pride in our track record. But it seems to me there is a greater good that this column, at least, can serve.
With that thought in mind, I’m looking to put together a think tank of individuals who are tired of the status quo and want to recharter the course of our fair city. I’m looking for folks who feel their voices have not been heard.
I hope to have a town meeting some time over the next couple months to brainstorm ideas. I’m not talking about experience centers and cultural museums. I’m talking about grassroots ideas that can be implemented quickly with an eye toward bigger goals in the future.
If you’re tired of being the butt of jokes and weary of explaining to tourists and expatriates what’s gone wrong in Niagara Falls, drop me an e-mail or send a note to the Reporter’s office. Put the phrase “I’m in” in the subject line and include a contact telephone number.
Together, maybe we can take the first step in helping Niagara up from its fall.
Frank Thomas Croisdale is a Contributing Editor at the Niagara Falls Reporter and author of “Buffalo Soul Lifters” and President of Niagara Rises.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
- Amy H. - It is nice to know where this organization has come from. Thank you for sharing the history! ...
It’s funny what almost two years will bring. When I first joined the group, I didn’t know what direction we would head in, I only hoped it would be UP. Now we’ve had all types of exposure for Niagara Rises and Niagara Falls this year. We can hope that 2009 will bring the start of an upward turn for this city!
April,
You’re so right and we never would have achieved any of it without the hard work of you and so many others (Eileen, Deb, Kathy, Tree, Bill and Colleen – to name just a few) who have been there since the beginning.
2009 is going to be a year of great events happening in Niagara Falls!
I think it is wonderful that all the enthusiasm of our group is finally being channelled into positive action! After months of talking and brainstorming it’s great to be able to work on something as concrete as Niagara Homecoming! With this evet everything will fall into place. 2009 is definitely going to a banner year for Niagara Falls!!
We all have the power to spread the good word on this group and the “Homecomings”. It’s exciting to see responses through Classmates.com & Facebook. These are powerful and far reaching tools! We need to make this city shine for the event. Let’s get a ‘Niagara Rises’ group together for the 2009 Spring clean up…how does that sound Marge?!