CHEERS & JEERS: May 9's best and worst

Staff Reports
Niagara Gazette

May 09, 2008 07:59 pm

— CHEERS

• SPCA CONTRACT: For a while there late last week we were getting visions of mayors past as a rift between the City of Niagara Falls and the Niagara County SPCA widened into a stoppage of service. We had Mayor Paul Dyster strangely contradicting himself while discussing the agency’s contract status as SPCA Executive Director Al Chille was talking about bringing attorneys into the mix. Meanwhile, dogs and cats were walking the streets, living it up in a city without any animal control. Fortunately problems were hammered out over the weekend and a new contract was approved by the City Council on Monday. “It was just a matter of sitting down and communicating with each other,” Councilman Robert Anderson. Shouldn’t everyone have tried that first?

• CHURCH PAINTINGS: “I did it so I guess I could have something to hold onto, if that makes sense,” explains Dottie Farrell. “... When you lose something, it’s kind of nice to have a picture and look at it.” While others greeted the news of recent Catholic church closings with dismay, Farrell found a bit of inspiration and began painting the 14 city holy places. Hopefully those grieving throughout this painful process can find a little solace in her work. The paintings are currently on display in Farrell’s church, St. John de LaSalle, but not for much longer.

JEERS

• PENSION FINDINGS: While Niagara Falls School District officials are denying the findings, State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli has revoked retirement system enrollment for school district attorney Maria Massaro after determining she was incorrectly classified as a full-time employee rather than a contractor. Among the allegations, DiNapoli said the district paid the firm of Angelo Massaro, Maria’s father, $95,000 as an independent contractor. How does that work? According to School Superintendent Carmen Granto, Maria is a full-time school district employee, as is her father. So on top of their salaries, the district’s paying out another $95,000 to their firm for independent contracting? Taxpayers should be hearing more about this.