CHEERS

HYDE PARK GOLF FEES: After voting to increase the city’s golfing fees in November, the City Council is now considering reducing some of the rates at Monday’s council meeting. All five council members and Mayor Vince Anello said Wednesday they supported the new fee changes after hearing numerous complaints from local golfer. It’s good to see city officials paying attention.


LEW-PORT PROPOSAL: Speaking of listening to constituents, the Lewiston-Porter Board of Education has added a motion to allow more public input on large contract proposals to its May 16 election ballot. If the referendum passes, the district would agree to conduct a non-binding public referendum to allow the public to vote on any proposed contract between the district and an employee union or the superintendent which results in an increase in excess of $100,000. The board wouldn’t be bound by the vote, but it would accurately gauge the attitude of taxpayers, hopefully leading the school board down the right path.


LASALLE PRIDE: Rather than sit around and wait to see what happens, LaSalle Pride, a growing community organization, held a meeting this week urging state and local officials to dedicate a portion of the highly contested casino cash to projects in the LaSalle area. Members of LaSalle Pride outlined $695,000 worth of community needs during a two-hour meeting. LaSalle Pride and residents are hoping slot machine revenue can repair infrastructure they say has been neglected for years. The meeting was a reminder to city officials that they’re a part of the Falls too.



JEERS

NIMAC “WINNERS”: This past weekend was a time to celebrate as volunteers who helped save the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station and keep it open through the Pentagon’s 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process were honored. Great idea, only a lot of those honored seemed to be civic, business and government leaders. If this was truly a community effort, why single out just 36 people? Several of them bureaucrats and talking heads at that. Those awards belong to everyone who worked to save the Falls base — and it was a lot more than 36 people.


HOUSING COURT OPPOSITION: To combat the many housing code violations and to restore some of Niagara Falls’ decaying neighborhoods, legislation to strengthen the city’s housing court is pending in the state Legislature. Sen. Marc Coppola, D-Buffalo, plans on introducing a bill this week, and Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte’s bill is under consideration by the Assembly’s Judiciary Committee. Unfortunately for the Falls, DelMonte, D-Lewiston, sponsored similar legislation last year, but it never left the Judiciary Committee. The assemblywoman isn’t sure where opposition to her bill came from and thinks it needs to be addressed. No kidding. Take a short walk through downtown Niagara Falls and you’ll see dozens of reasons why this city needs a housing court.


ONE NIAGARA: Things are starting to get a little strange over at the former Occidental Building owned by Frank Parlato Jr. It was just weeks ago that Parlato announced that he was seeking a partnership with the city in an attempt to knock down the building and turn the property into a parking lot among other things. On Wednesday, Parlato announce that he’s not going to knock down the building, forget about a city partnership and try to do things on his own. Currently those plans involve setting up a few restaurants and souvenir shops. While it’s good to see something happening, those plans don’t quite seem worthy of probably the best parcel of land downtown.