Published: July 30, 2006 12:35 am      

EDITORIAL: Charter needs to be fixed right now

There’s been a lot of talk regarding reviewing and fixing the Niagara Falls city charter, but so far, nothing’s changed.

While Mayor Vince Anello and the Niagara Falls City Council have said they want to see sections of the charter changed, no action has been taken since a proposal by Anello to create an 11-member commission failed earlier this year.

Now Ken Hamilton, president of the Niagara Falls Library Board of Trustees and an outspoken resident, said voters may take action themselves.

If they do, they don’t have much time.

While state law allows citizens to petition government leaders to create a charter commission, time to put anything on the November ballot for a public referendum is running out. A public referendum is due to the Niagara County Board of Elections by Oct. 2.

In our view it shouldn’t come down to a bunch of Falls residents pressuring city officials to make a change. It’s obvious something needs to be done — and soon.

There are several issues relating to the fractured city charter — the structure of city government, the powers of the mayor and the council, the need for a city administrator versus a deputy mayor, but one of the biggest, in our opinion, is the issue regarding the mayor’s salary.

The current salary of $30,000 just isn’t enough for a full-time mayor.

By comparison, in Buffalo, Mayor Byron Brown makes an annual salary of $105,000.

We’re definitely not suggesting the salary in the Falls climbs to anywhere near $100,000, but it definitely needs to be increased, or the job needs to be switched to a part-time position.

As it stands now, those serving as mayor of Niagara Falls — a full-time job — cannot hold outside employment. In Lewiston, Supervisor Fred Newlin, a part-time mayor, makes nearly the same amount as Mayor Vince Anello.

Obviously things are out of whack in the Cataract City.

How much should the mayor’s salary rise? That’s hard to say, we would say it at least needs to be increased to the $50,000 range.

Why does it need to be increased? For the simple fact that a more reasonable salary would attract a greater pool of quality candidates.

Right now, potential mayoral candidates must weigh their willingness to work for $30,000 a year. It has to limit the number of those that eventually decide to run.

“It’s just way too low. It attracts different candidates. You have to have different qualifications, be retired, have another way to make money,” Councilman Sam Fruscione, a teacher at Harry F. Abate Elementary School, has said. “A young guy is not going to take a chance for $30,000.”

Not very many “old guys” are going to either — and that’s a big problem for Niagara Falls.