City staffs up

Niagara Falls, NY – The City of Niagara Falls has announced the hiring of various department directors who will streamline community engagement and economic development and improve cross-department collaboration.

These appointments include:

• Keith Lucas has been hired as the City’s Planning Director bringing over 30 years of public and private sector experience. Keith most recently worked with the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency, where he was responsible for overseeing the implementation of the City of Buffalo’s Green Code, local waterfront revitalization efforts, brownfield remediation coordination, and other economic development initiatives. He holds a Master of Urban Planning and a B.A. in Environmental Design from the University at Buffalo.

• Ian McCully has been appointed as the City’s Community Development Director. Through his work in the University at Buffalo Master of Urban Planning Program, Ian is experienced in engaging the community in decision making and feedback as well as strategizing to make housing more affordable and accessible. For the past decade, Ian was a supervisor for a private tech company, where he was responsible for managing large teams, collaborating with other departments, and interacting with prospective customers. Ian completed his Master’s of Urban Planning at the University at Buffalo last year and also holds a B.A. in history from Virginia Tech.

• David Pikul has been named the City’s Director of Code Enforcement. David worked with the State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation for 21 years, most recently within the Division of Spill Prevention and Response, overseeing the regulation of the oil sector in marine environments. He is a certified NYS Code Enforcement Officer and has extensive experience as an inspection and compliance officer in the environmental and municipal sectors.

“These new hires reflect the administration’s goals of streamlining government processes and creating an environment that promotes resident engagement and economic development,” said City of Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino. “We are finding new ways to more efficiently and expeditiously deliver programs and services to the taxpayers, especially area businesses.”