By Nick Mattera
A local town attorney with ties to several taxpayer-funded organizations defended his workload, but left one representative from a local grassroots organization wondering how he does it all.
Mark Gabriele, Lewiston town attorney, also finds his name of the payrolls of the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency, the Niagara County District Attorney’s Office, the Town of Niagara Industrial Development Agency as well as practicing for the law firm Harris Beach PLLC.
“How does this guy have time to do his job?” asked Edwina Luksch, a member of Fiscal Accountability, Integrity and Responsible Government (FAIR), a grassroots organization that is working on issues related to local government costs. “I want to know how this guy has enough time to do it all.”
Gabriele’s contract finalized by the Lewiston Town Board on Monday set his salary at $34,500. Gabriele said a pension was available but he is choosing not to enter into it. He said the workload will be divided with consulting Attorney Michael Dowd.
“Before I was appointed there wasn’t a clearinghouse, now everything goes through me,” Gabriele said. “I have been involved in Lewiston for years and it is a place I love.”
Gabriele plans to have office hours at town hall on Mondays or Thursdays, adding he does not believe his workload hinders his performance.
“I am used to working 70 to 80 hours a week, I’ve been doing it for a very long time,” he said. “They surely get the best service I can provide them.”
Gabriele has been employed by the Niagara County District Attorney’s Office for over 20 years, where he earns a salary of $37,179.45.
Gabriele said in his capacity as assistant district attorney, his work mostly deals with town and village night courts with a focus on DWI cases.
“I’ve worked two or three jobs for the last 20 to 25 years, I’m not used to having time off,” Gabriele said. “It’s not uncommon for attorneys to work for multiple municipalities, there is only so many people that understand this type of the law.”
The Niagara County IDA has a contract with Gabriele’s law firm Harris Beach, paying the firm around $33,000 last year, Gabriele said.
NCIDA Chairman Henry Sloma said Gabriele has been an asset to the agency.
“In our case we pay Mark (Gabriele) on a part-time basis and we are most certainly getting our money’s worth,” Sloma said.
He said his work for the IDA works out to around $150 an hour.
Gabriele said his work for the Town of Niagara IDA is on a case-by-case basis paying him on a similar pay scale as the NCIDA at around $150 an hour. He said that his work for them has been limited in recent months and there are no contractual guarantees.
“I could make nothing for them,” he said.
Gabriele said that he would never take on a workload he didn’t think he could handle, adding his positions did not serve as a “cash grab.”
“I work very hard, put in a lot of hours and really enjoy what I do,” Gabriele said.
