By Mark Scheer<br><a href="mailto:scheerm@gnnewspaper.com">E-mail Mark</a>
Niagara Gazette
October 29, 2008 12:24 am
—
Economic development. Tourism. Seneca Niagara Casino. Property taxes.
When they squared off for the first time in 2004, Francine DelMonte and Paula Banks-Dahlke discussed many of the same issues they find themselves talking about today.
Four years after their first political encounter, the incumbent Democrat believes the state Assembly’s 138th District is continuing to make strides under her watch, with improvements yet to come.
“My focus since I’ve been in office has been on strengthening the local economy and focusing on those measures that build on the area’s strengths, especially tourism and industry and agriculture,” said DelMonte, who is seeking her fifth Assembly term.
Her Republican opponent believes DelMonte’s legislative experience and Albany ties should have helped her accomplish much more by now.
“I truly believe that if she understood the authority that her position held, something would have changed to the positive in the years since the last time I ran,” said Banks-Dahlke, a home and kitchen designer from the Town of Hartland.
The 138th District includes the City of Niagara Falls as well as the towns of Niagara, Wheatfield, Lewiston, Cambria, Porter, Wilson, Newfane and Hartland. DelMonte, who lives in Lewiston and grew up in Niagara Falls, has represented the district since defeating Republican Rob Daly in the 2000 election. She was re-elected in 2002, defeated Banks-Dahlke in 2004 and overcame a contentious race against fellow Democrat Gary Parenti in 2006. A graduate of Buffalo State College, DelMonte got her experience in government as a long-time aide to former state Assemblyman Joe Pillittere.
Banks-Dahlke, who also grew up in the Falls, studied design at Niagara County Community College and currently works with her husband, Charles, in the family’s company, CA Dahlke R.A. Architectural Firm. She is also a former construction coordinator for Marrano Homes and once worked as a draftsman for Delphi-Harrison, now known as Delphi. Banks-Dahlke is most proud of her work as a mother of three children, which included a seven-year stint as a single mom. She’s not exactly a stranger to Albany politics as she served as an Assembly intern while studying for her bachelor’s degree at the University at Albany.
Banks-Dahlke has likened DelMonte to more of an Albany insider than a true representative of the constituents in the 138th District. She suggested DelMonte’s allegiance to party bosses like Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver detract from her ability to adequately represent the concerns of ordinary people. She adds that, as a Democrat, DelMonte has played to the voter base in Niagara Falls, which has been a detriment to those living in the district’s outlying towns and villages. Banks-Dahlke believes she can be a more effective representative in Albany by establishing stronger connections back home.
"There are many, many leaders in the 138th District, all the way from Hartland to Niagara Falls,” she said. “Those are leaders that you need to get information from. There’s a reason why there are supervisors in these towns. There’s a reason why there is a mayor of Niagara Falls. These leaders have been trusted by the people.”
DelMonte insists her days are spent focusing on the issues facing the 138th District. The proof, she said, can be found in initiatives she’s supported in the last two years, including $6.6 million in state aid for NCCC’s hospitality and culinary institute in Niagara Falls, a $2.5 million grant for improvements at Artpark and $1 million for the redevelopment of Niagara Falls International Airport. She also noted that she pushed for the creation of the Niagara Wine Trail and legislation that established a commission to oversee the development of the county’s history of involvement with the Underground Railroad. DelMonte said she also has spent years working with local officials and other state lawmakers to help maintain low-cost power allocations for local companies and to attract new investors like Globe Metallurgical and Northern Ethanol in Niagara Falls.
“This is not done in a vacuum,” she said. “It’s by working with a lot of people and bringing their ideas to the Assembly, to the leadership and making a case. I make the case for this community all the time.”
As for her relationship to Silver, Gov. David Paterson and other downstate politicians, DelMonte said she’s not shy about working with anyone who may be able to help address constituents’ concerns.
“You have to work with the leaders,” she said. “That’s just a part of the process. You work with the leaders. It’s important for me to be able to convey to them how important these issues and these resources are to the district.”
DelMonte said she intends to keep working to make sure the district does not repeat mistakes of the past. As New York City residents are now finding out in the wake of Wall Street’s woes, DelMonte said the district should never again rely too heavily on any one segment of the economy. In Niagara Falls, for example, she said the city counted on its industrial base. When it dried up, she said it had few employment options to fall back on.
“The state has to have multiple economic sectors in order for its economy to not only survive but thrive,” DelMonte said. “That’s what I’m trying to do here. That’s what I’m trying to build in Niagara Falls and in Niagara County, multiple economic drivers, so that if one sector of the economy suffers, another sector can continue to work and operate and function and produce.”
She said a multi-faceted approach to development is particularly important in Niagara Falls, where the push is on for tourism, but industry and agriculture remain vital.
“The state, I think, in many instances, always thought Niagara Falls will always be an attraction so we didn’t have to do much in terms of building up its hospitality industry,” she added. “Well, it was proven wrong time and again and now it is focusing attention on the tourism industry. You can point fingers, you can direct fault but I think now we are in a much better position to capitalize not only on our tourism assets but on the remaining industry that is here and making each of them stronger.”
Banks-Dahlke charges that DelMonte’s approach has not produced the tangible results she claims. She insists that in discussing issues with voters at restaurants and fire halls, DelMonte’s constituents, particularly members of the local business community, feel frustrated by the district’s lack of progress. Banks-Dahlke said DelMonte might understand these things better if she ever ventured out of her “comfort zone” in Niagara Falls.
“I believe there are people working out there in the trenches right now who have many of the answers,” she said. “I believe that the answers are within the businessmen of this district already and that as a leader on the state level we need to find the answers within here and then show Albany some of the things they need to pay attention to.”
One answer, she said, is stronger leadership. While agencies are in place to address economic development and other issues within the district, without someone in a position of authority to demand accountability, Banks-Dahlke said the community will continue to miss out on the best those organizations have to offer. She said the person representing the district needs to be willing to “rattle a few cages” to make sure things are getting done.
“We don’t have enough of that,” she said. “Everybody sits back and wants to be everybody’s buddy. You can’t just sit back and be everybody’s buddy.”
DelMonte says she did fight hard for her constituents in one area - tribal gaming. While there are aspects of the development effort she knows still need work, DelMonte maintains that downtown Niagara Falls looks better today than it did before the opening of Seneca Niagara Casino. Overall, she’s pleased with the performance of the Seneca Nation of Indians, the jobs the casino created and the investment interests it has brought to the city and the surrounding area.
“The groundswell of support here once the governor said he was going to negotiate with the Senecas was ‘let’s move forward with full force’ and I did,” she said. “It’s always been a big deal in Niagara Falls. It’s always been a big issue in Niagara Falls. This was the opportunity that came to us and we took it.”
Moving forward, DelMonte said she would like to see more marketing of opportunities downtown, particularly along Third Street. DelMonte said more help is on the way in the form of funding through the state’s $750 million upstate revitalization effort. The initiative, originally a $1 billion plan under former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, should provide more state dollars for improvements in Niagara Falls and the surrounding area.
“What took 40 years of decline is being reversed slowly but surely,” she said. “There are impediments. There are obstacles, but we are overcoming them.”
Banks-Dahlke said private business owners operating near the casino have experienced impediments to growth since opening day. The reason, she said, has to do with lack of foresight on the part of officials like DelMonte who had a hand in the deal. If elected, Banks-Dahlke said she would work to develop a tax incentive and reduction program for businesses located near the casino. Without them, she said, private, taxpaying enterprises will not be able to compete and will ultimately fail.
“The casino’s arrival may have established that there would be large amounts of money coming to the state and that there was a fair amount of money coming to Niagara Falls, but it did not at all take a look at how it would effect the businesses around it,” she said. “It did not take a look at how it was going to affect the families and the neighborhoods. As a result, because nobody looked at that and everybody wanted the ribbon-cutting, we are now suffering the consequences.”
Banks-Dahlke’s personal finances came into play earlier this month when a notice was published in local newspapers announcing plans for a November auction of her home as part of a foreclosure proceeding. She and her husband have since had their mortgage reinstated by their lender and the auction has been canceled. While she admits to falling behind on their mortgage payments in 2007, Banks-Dahlke says she experienced some financial difficulties starting in 2006, but said she and her husband have worked to emerge from bankruptcy and straighten out their own finances. While some may question whether her situation calls into question her ability to handle taxpayer dollars, Banks-Dahlke contends that the experience shows she’s capable of handling the tough tasks demanded of the job.
“I really believe that is what leadership is all about - taking on things that are a little bigger than you are,” she said.
Both candidates understand the consequences being faced by New York and its taxpayers during these trying economic times.
Banks-Dahlke said the state’s workforce is a good place for Albany lawmakers to look as they begin cutting costs. She recommends trimming staff through attrition and said the state must investigate its personnel at various umbrella agencies. She argues that bloated state agencies that have in some cases outlived their purpose are like “open wounds” that are bleeding money.
“It’s going to take a few years, but it is at least turning the Titanic around,” she said. “We need to start realizing that New York state can’t be New York state’s biggest employer.”
DelMonte said she too understands the need for the state to get its own financial house in order and that includes expense and manpower reductions within the Assembly itself. DelMonte said more work has to be done to address unfunded mandates. She also supports measures outlined in a report prepared by Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi and his state Property Tax Commission, including consolidation of government services at the local and state levels.
“We have to make some systemic changes in how we operate so that we can reduce the pressure on property taxes that supports so much government in the state,” she said.
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.