Voccio slithers back to Rhode Island

Chris Voccio has crawled back to Rhode Island. The former city councilperson and County Legislator said in December he had no intent to leave Niagara Falls and return to his hometown.

At the time, the avowed minimalist cited the cost of living in the Falls and suggested he couldn’t live more cheaply anywhere else. He left the role of legislator after 8 years of public service, claiming he didn’t want to run for another legislature term because it would qualify him for a state pension and he believes in term limits.

Voccio’s former home at 559 31st St. is listed for sale. The 775 square foot 2-bedroom 1-bath tiny house is listed for $99,000. Here is a link. https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/559-31st-St_Niagara-F… Voccio now lists himself as a resident of Cranston, R.I. 

The Community Newspaper Holdings corporate hitman moved here to close the Tonawanda NEWS and Medina Journal Register  and to cut the hell out of the Niagara Gazette and Lockport Union, Sun & Journal. He worked for 2 years and 9 months locally before retiring to run for city council.

The local papers he offed  were reportedly profitable when the US&J and Gazette were losing money and CNHI took over in the early 90s.

At the time, CNHI put corporate vagabonds in charge of the two larger papers and reportedly gave them performance-based contracts offering bonuses and for making budget in Lockport and Niagara which they did with bookkeeping tricks. Expenses were assigned to the smaller papers to make the larger ones appear to be experiencing a miraculous turnaround. 

One of those vagabonds, Les Rogers even hatched a multi-million-dollar losing plan for a regional alternative newspaper called Buffalo Current, relying on hubris rather than market research or input from the multiple people in sales and the newsroom under his supervision who had decades of experience. By comparison, Voccio was a success.

After corporate, a subsidiary of the Alabama State Teachers Retirement Fund, realized how hollow the books were, they brought in Voccio to kill the two smaller newspapers and cut to prosperity, something he did with aplomb.

Here’s how Voccio spun it on his LinkedIn Page:

Sep 2014 - May 2017 · 2 yrs 9 mos

Niagara County, NY

- Led multi-media operation with two daily newspapers and associated digital products in Western New York with 75 FTEs and $7+ million in revenue.

- Grew 2015 revenue at the Niagara Gazette by 15.3%.

- Grew 2015 group profits by more than 300% in a massive turnaround.

- Grew 2016 group profits by 45%.

- Grew group profit margin from 2% in 2014 to 17% in 2016.

- Both newspapers named Organizations of the Year for 2017 by Leadership Niagara.

- Managed two office relocations, placing employees in more modern environments and reducing expenses.

Both newspapers are still alive but barely.

Also to Voccio's credit, when not putting newspapers to death, he was an avid supporter of the hiking trails and local Niagara Falls businesses. The Express was unable to see any details on social media he may have posted.