Published: July 09, 2008 06:24 pm            

GLYNN: Mayor entitled to take-home privileges

Now that gas prices convince people to think twice about their daily travel habits, even local governments are taking a second look at their fleet of vehicles.

After all, when countless residents are scraping to make ends meet why should city or town employees, for example, be able to take home a car courtesy of the taxpayers?

There’s no question that at one time there was widespread abuse of that privilege in the City of Niagara Falls. A lot of department heads then were taking the vehicles home for their personal use.

Occasionally you would spot them at a suburban shopping mall — I remember one former official who often took a county-owned vehicle to the race track a couple of night a week — or a dozen other places where they didn’t belong.

It would have been hard for any of those employees to prove they were on 24-hour call, a claim they quickly made when anyone questioned the inexcuable practice.

Then there’s the other extreme when a Buffalo Common Council member demands that even Mayor Byron W. Brown give up the use of a city vehicle and drive his own car to work.

That’s absolute nonsense, blatant politicking by a councilman looking to the next election. Perhaps it’s just pay-back time after the mayor took the take-home privileges away from 35 city employees.

At present Brown is the only elected official who has a city-owned vehicle and he told the media the other day he has no plans to stop using it. He explained: “I try to be available to citizens around the clock.”

Mayor Brown as well as Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster are certainly entitled to a city vehicle, whatever the hour.

A VIP or a serious developer weighing an investment in the Cataract City should expect a proper welcome including a ride in the mayor’s car. That’s not asking too much.

By the way, this whole matter about the need for our public officials to conserve energy extends far beyond local government entities.

A recent check by an enterprising reporter from the Cleveland Plain Dealer found that congressmen still favor large vehicles.

Forget the fact that four-cylinder and gas-electric hybrid cars are all the rage for their energy-conscious constituents.

Apparently the consensus is that as long as taxpayers foot the bill, congressmen should travel in extra comfort.

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POPULAR OUTING: The annual Tuscarora Picnic & Field Days is set Friday and Saturday at Walmore and Mount Hope roads on the Reservation. The activities will range from a smoke dance competition and the selection of the 2008 Tuscarora Princess to lacrosse, arts and crafts, and a 10K race.

This marks the 163rd event that the Tuscarora Nation has sponsored.

Additional information is available by calling Neil Patterson Sr. at 628-5424.

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THE HIRED HELP: Some local residents are upset that Donna Owens, the new city administrator, has imported her assistant, Debra Sharper, who also worked with her in Atlanta.

One irate caller to a local talk show noted that there are probably many unemployed people in Niagara Falls who would be qualified for such a job.

In the wake of City Hall’s hiring practices in the past, that criticism of Owens seems unwarranted, especially before she has had a chance to settle into the job.

        

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