Out of contol

Falls Council Member Donta Myles attempted to bring perspective to chaos last Wednesday night at the Niagara Falls City Council.

He signed up to speak to the council “For the Good of the Community”, moved to the podium and tried to explain the root cause of the continuous rancor at council meetings is a lack of respect for the people coming from the government not the other way around.

“It is a circus with respect and order not coming from the council when we speak of respect and order, why is our comptroller not here?”

As he veered down a nostalgic path of the Dyster administration he reminisced about department heads being in the gallery at meetings to answer questions from the council.

At every meeting, Myles, and sometimes Brian Archie or David Zajac has questions that go unanswered, usually about taxpayer dollars. The only representatives of the executive branch are clerk Elizabeth Eaton and acting Corporation Counsel Thomas DeBoy.

As Myles spoke, he started to focus on specific criticism of absent members of the executive branch leading Council Chairperson Jim Perry to pound his gavel and accused Myles of being in violation of Rule 11 of the new speaker rules which were in effect last night for the first time. Rule 11 forbids criticism of individuals.

Perry suggested Myles write a guest view to the Niagara Gazette to express his opinions.

The mostly full gallery was guarded by 6 Niagara Falls police officers but still heckled every time Perry didn’t speak clearly. The microphones seem to work for other council members just not Perry. 

Other speakers at the meeting included Michia Lee, who submitted petitions to enter the Democratic primary for city council. Lee said after her last appearance she reviewed the city charter and gained a better understanding of the structure of city government and the role of the council.

At the core, she said the city government is a corporation. Voters are like share holders. She said the city needs streets fixed as well as more things for kids to do.

“How do we attract and keep residents?” Lee asked. “Our greatest asset is our youth.”

In legislative action the council approved the allocation of Greenway funding for park renovations including playground upgrades, metal roofing on picnic shelters, restoration of Duck Island and more.