The World According to Bob

Editor's note: Each week, Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino offers his plebes words of wisdom. The Express listens, and transcribes, as an act of penance. We are not worthy. The lead-in (including this one) is rife with sarcasm. The reality is our Mayor has a hard job. The Express will continue to transcribe his weekly words without comment, because the majority of people who voted supported Mayor Restaino at the polls. The Express will also sit with the mayor later this month and share how he answers hard questions. If you have a question for him, no matter how absurd, please share it. I don’t want him to terminate the interview and throw me out of his office, but then again, if you give me a really nasty question, maybe I won’t have to sit with him anymore. Then again, he is mayor for less than two more years, so maybe telling us what he thinks is the best way for him to get a third term even if most people think a hockey rink is a stupid, unjustifiable idea we can’t afford. Anyway, here’s this week’s transcription. I listened so you don’t have to.

Job fair Thursday

We have another job fair scheduled for positions within local government. This one will be on April 9 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the LaSalle Library in the auditorium on the second floor.

In preparation, if you go to the city’s Website, take a look at the employment opportunities. There is a listing of positions. See if there is any position there you would like to obtain and then come on out to the job fair.

The one thing about city employment that I tell anybody who stops me on the street, they talk about wanting to get a job, unlike some businesses, city government is not going anywhere. It is not going to pack up and leave and then you have dedicated so many years to the process and you have nothing to show for it.

You have health benefits that are very, very, very good and you also have a pension so that as you work through your years as a city employee there is something at the end of your employment time to assist you once you reach retirement.

Address illegal dumping now

As I have said a couple times, keeping the city clean is everybody’s job. When the city has to go out and clean up after people it is because people aren’t cleaning so we also have a problem where there are some people who just don’t seem to respect open spaces.

We have now on our Website, on the department of public works page, a tab for garbage and recycling. If you click on that, you will find that there is an email address, illegaldumping@niagarafallsny.gov. If you see somebody illegally dumping, doing something of that nature, take a picture. Information you can give us would be great. Where it is, what day and then some video or a photo. It allows us to try and bring some accountability to the people who are making a mess in a lot of different areas. Our clean team, which is one set of four workers, simply cannot address all of the problems that are created by others not taking responsibility. There are better ways to dispose of all of the things that we want to get rid of than throwing them in a vacant field or moving them out to the front lawn.

You can make all sorts of arrangements to get those things taken away. Again, we are asking residents to participate. Send us whatever you observe and that way we can start making people accountable for what they do.

Celebrating the 250th

As you know, this past we know, this past week we received a flag from Niagara County that is flying in front of city hall celebrating the 250th anniversary of our country. There will be a lot of information coming out about celebrations happening both in our city and all throughout the county. To the extent that we are aware of it, we will make sure that we pass that along to you.

Watch for bikes

The weather is getting better in terms of ice. We can all appreciate the temperatures getting warmer. There are vehicle out on the road and it’s not just bicycles, it is ebike, scooters. It is important that we all pay attention on the road and especially to those who have members of the family using bicycles or scooters. Please remind them that the rules of the road apply to them too. Last year, we had more than our fair share of incidences and accidents on the road, one a fatality in fact involving bicycles, ebikes and scooters. Remember the fact many of them, just under one-third, are with people who are under the age of 17. It is really important that when you are out on the road, you recognize that you are sharing the road and there are rules that you should follow.

The simple ones are obeying stop signs and traffic signals. Riding with traffic. Having appropriate equipment with you. All of those things are designed to keep you safe and to make sure we can lower that number.

Clean air for the Duke Center

One item that we are going to have and we be installing, and I a pretty proud of this, I am pretty sure the council will consent to allowing us to put an air purifier, a sterilizer in at the Duke Center. You know our senior citizens are people that we should cherish. They are people who have been here, they really made the way for many of us no matter where we are and what we are doing. I know the John Duke center is a place where people gather, whether for lunch or events which are enjoyable, so we are going to install an air purifier to help keep the air in that facility pure for them, safe for them. Seniors are among the first to be impacted by airborne viruses or infections. We were able to assist the hospital in putting one in at Schoellkopf nursing home. We really think that it is not only something that makes good sense but it is the right thing to do.