Restaino's reelection may be inevitable

I had a thought this week about Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino. A large number of people who don’t vote are not going to like what I have to say.

A small number of people who do vote are also not going to like it. That’s because most of the community does not vote. Here is the thought: Restaino is going to win again whether or not you, me or anyone else likes it.

We are just more than a year away from a mayoral election in Niagara Falls. Someone needs to come up with a serious scandal they can lay at his feet. Without it, Restaino is likely going to win in a landslide.

I won't even get into the qualification expected Republican nominee Vincent Cauley or who might wage a Democratic primary.

Complain about the GIVE grant, the dog shelter, the Rapids Theatre, the American Rescue Plan allocation or how the city administrator doesn’t live in the city and neither does an attorney in the city council’s office. Then complain about paving and expensive lawn mowing and an unneeded state of emergency.

Almost all of it is sound and fury signifying nothing because most people don’t care, or vote and nothing has been proven illegal. Sorry if the truth hurts.

Next up, talk about the $4 million folly, the acquisition of the land for an event center that will likely never be built. You can even call it a hockey rink. I don't think it is a good idea. I believe a referendum on the project would fail. It is poorly sited and not economically feasible.

We need to expose waste, fraud and abuse in an actionable way. Complain to the State Comptroller who reviews the annual independent audit of the books. Bring forth actionable accusations of wrongdoing. That means things that rise above just being credible and are likely to be prosecutable. Show me embezzlement. Surely, somebody got a bribe we can track. Then connect to the mayor who got fired from being a judge. Come on, you can do it. Bring the goods.

Jesse Gooch mewling about how he bid $200,000 when the other guy offered $10,000 is not enough unless Gooch comes with a $1.5 million commitment from a real bank, not just his buddy in Florida who gives a letter with a bunch of conditions. If Chris Ring getting the contract was because Jeremy Zellner said so, don't you think Zellner would have asked Colin Ligamarri, who helped run Jon Rivera's Senate campaign to stand down so Zellner, a snivelling nitwit, could be reelected? After all, is Rivera anything more than a nepo baby?

I was just saying the other day that if history repeats itself, we are due for an elected official to be indicted sometime soon. I don’t know who, but it is cyclical. The names, like mine, usually end on O.

If you have real criminal claims, bring them to the Sheriff, the attorney general or the US attorney. I want to root out waste, fraud and abuse. We need to show it, in real, actionable terms. Heck the Sheriff is a Republican. Surely he'd like to take down a Democratic mayor given the chance. Ditto the district attorney.

The fact we abhor how the American Rescue Plan funds were spent and how police abuse overtime is a given. As for how the dog shelter was overbuilt, it means nothing unless you can get law enforcement to act on any part of it. It may be wasteful and unwise. Can you prove laws were broken?

Even scandalous rumors about the mayor need to be proven. Whisper campaigns that never get verified or make an impact rarely work because they don’t rise to the level of credible.

Sometimes I see things that are credible and don’t report them because it is distasteful. That’s happened with the Mayor, Gooch and Bridgette Myles to name three. You can find all those salacious things to click on somewhere else. 

If Gov. Kathy Hochul wins reelection, after the state budget passes (It is due in April and took until June this year) the mayor is going to be able to launch a campaign that says.

1. I didn’t raise taxes when almost every surrounding community did.
2. Our bond rating has been increased twice (probably 3x by then.)
3. Look at the streetscape being constructed on Main Street. (Please don’t question why it took 6 years to achieve what North Tonawanda could do in 2).
4. Look at the construction at Jenss and on the new dorms.
5. Check out the pending rebirth of the Rapids Theatre.
6. Check out the construction at the city market.

We need a candidate to come from either party and offer something better than what the Mayor has brought forth, a charismatic, credible leader with experience and a plan. I am all ears if someone can offer any idea. All I have heard so far are Carl Cain and Vincent Cauley. 

Carl is a nice guy and came close last time with zero experience. Vincent is a newcomer who seems endlessly capable of complicating every issue until we have paralysis by analysis. Both need a platform that shows a credible plan to do better than 1 through 6 above.

The only thing that has a chance to stop Restaino from being reelected is Bruce Blakeman defeating Gov. Hochul and retroactively defunding what has already been allocated by Empire State Development. Let Silberbergs rise again.

Think about it. If you can bring forth a better choice, I am all ears. I would like that too. You don't have to like the mayor or his opponent. You do have to vote for what's in front of you.