Myles gets rejected by Mayor

The Niagara Reporter this morning published “breaking news” showing the office of Mayor Robert Restaino has rejected Councilperson Donta Myles request for copies of checks paid to the Pit Chic (Kelli Swagel) for dog shelter services.

Myles previously bickered, during a council meeting, with acting Corporation Counsel Thomas DeBoy on the topic.

Pit Chic provides shelter for 17 dogs. Just a few years ago, the SPCA routinely had more than 50 dogs from Niagara Falls at its shelter. Residents calling the police department over a stray dog are frequently told to leave the animal where it is or shelter it in their home because there is no room on Grand Island.

The email from the Mayor to Myles denying the request drips with sarcasm.

“Good afternoon. Certainly, with all intention of clarity, transparency, limpidity, lucidity, plainness, straightforwardness, unambiguity, translucence, sunshine, brightness, and pellucidity, please note that unlike a person’s home checking account, City government issues thousands of checks.

“Unfortunately, hard copies of cancelled checks are not sent to us (nor is it done for one’s personal checking account) but would require the staff to pull each invoice, make a copy to research the correct bank account and then request a copy from the appropriate bank. That is why our internal control is the check disbursement register attached which is part of a larger ledger of all disbursements. So that you understand that it is not a lack of clarity, transparency, limpidity, lucidity, plainness, straightforwardness, unambiguity, translucence, sunshine, brightness, and pellucidity this is the normal function of our government. To further assist you and in the interest of maintaining our clarity, transparency, limpidity, lucidity, plainness, straightforwardness, unambiguity, translucence, sunshine, brightness, and pellucidity you will find some color coding to assist.

“On page marked 1 the green items are payments for veterinary charges, the yellow items are daily overage charges for animals in excess of the amount covered by the monthly fee, the pink items are balances paid for the kennels purchased by and owned by the City.

“On the page marked 2 the blue items are initial payments made for kennels and fencing, all of which remains property of the City. If you require the physical copies of the checks, please note that it will take significant time to retrieve as the staff is limited and the intensive nature of retrieval, as described above, will most certainly take quite some time to fit into the work schedule of the staff and we assure you it is not a lack of clarity, transparency, limpidity, lucidity, plainness, straightforwardness, unambiguity, translucence, sunshine, brightness, and pellucidity. We hope that this simple and clear explanation can provide you the information you are looking to receive.”

Here’s my take:

The Reporter's coverage includes copies of the checks requested but does not clarify where they came from.

I don't often write checks or pay bills by mail. When I do write a check, like the one to pay my too-high property tax or water bill, an image is available on my bank's Website.

Someone in the controller's office could call up every bank statement in question, use the snipping tool available on most computers, and create a single PDF of check images in about 10 minutes. 

It would take less time than it took to write that email. The only reason not to is to mess with Myles. It is cruel, malicious, merciless, resentful, retaliatory, ruthless spiteful and unforgiving. In a word, "vengeful"(if I use the internet to seek synonyms like a gradeschool bully).

On the other hand, someone should move to seize the thesaurus in the mayor's office. If there is malfeasance going on, it likely won't be as close to the surface as the dog shelter contract which is peanuts compared to many other budget lines.

The bottom line here is, at least in my opinion:

1. The city has done a poor job handling the dog shelter crisis. That is not to blame Swagel or Dog Control Officer Donny Booth.
2. If there has been any misuse/misappropriation of funds the amount is not large.
3. The stray dog crisis in the city remains unresolved because Pit Chic doesn’t have enough kennels and Booth can’t work 24/7.
4. If there is wrongdoing going on in city government, it likely is elsewhere. Eventually Attorney General Letitia James or the Federal Department of Justice will investigate and indictments may follow.

The other certainty is there is a council meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The agenda looks sparse but the parade of concerned citizens will continue to approach the podium during “for the good of the people” and express angst over the dog control issues.

The Beech Avenue Park supporters will also likely speak again because, in the eyes of the administration, any new Park Development will happen on the administration’s timeline, not on the timeline of “those people” who refuse to accept the role they have been assigned and wait their turn like good minions.