NIAGARA FALLS — Niagara Falls Redevelopment.

For many years, candidates seeking elected office in the city of Niagara Falls have been asked how they would advise the city to deal with the company which, through its various affiliates, owns more than 400 parcels of prime real estate near the heart of downtown.

This year’s crop of mayoral candidates and city council hopefuls generally agree more needs to be done from the city’s end to spur action within NFR’s development territory.

The majority also said they would support a direct approach — simply sitting down with owner Howard Milstein or his associates and discussing why more hasn’t happened on NFR land and what more can be done from the city’s end to help move things along.

“We have tried to find opportunities to motivate them in some way to move forward with the development that’s been anticipated for some years,” said incumbent Mayor Paul Dyster, whose administration has taken the lead on talks with NFR for the past four years.

Dyster said his administration has tried to maintain lines of communication with Milstein’s people since taking office and would continue to do so if re-elected. In recent months, he said his administration put officials from the National Development Council in touch with representatives from NFR in an effort to spur discussions about actual projects. The city, through its subsidiary, the NFC Development Corp., hired the non-profit council to help secure capital and finalize complex business deals. Dyster said the two sides continue to talk and he remains hopeful some progress will be realized as a result. In the meantime, he said, his office has been focused on making sure NFR continues to meet its legal obligations in terms of paying taxes and maintaining properties it owns to a satisfactory level. He said his administration has also looked to raise the development bar around NFR in hopes the company will begin to see the city as a bigger bang for its investment bucks.

“I’ve started to believe that maybe the strongest motivational tool that we have for Niagara Falls Redevelopment is doing such a good job at developing the rest of the city that they start to feel they are being left out and need to catch up,” Dyster said.

Dyster’s challenger, Niagara Falls School Board member Johnny Destino, suggested the current regime has not done enough to be more accommodating to not just NFR, but other potential investors in the city. Destino said he has met with representatives from NFR and has seen their plans for the area. He believes the company needs more qualified and competent assistance from the city, less bureaucratic red tape and more “buy-in” from the mayor’s office.

“Not to bash Dyster, but he has a vision for what he wants downtown,” Destino said. “Well, he doesn’t have his own money so if someone comes in with a project they want to do, he shouldn’t be against it simply because it’s not part of his vision. My vision is economic development for the city and jobs and that’s solely so that we can start fixing our infrastructure and supporting ourselves, not so I can get a name on a plaque and do a ribbon-cutting. If I make it through my term as mayor without having my name on one of the plaques, I’ll be happy. I’ll consider myself a success if I don’t have my name on a building after four years because that means it was built by private capital.”

Destino characterized Dyster’s approach to NFR as “more passive-aggressive,” saying the mayor has “wasted time” by not knowing what the other side is doing and “sniping here and there.”

“I would meet with them and find out why aren’t we getting things done, what are the issues and then let the people know why it’s not getting done, not throw my hands up in the air and say ‘I don’t know why it’s not getting done,’ ” Destino said.

The three candidates seeking two seats on the city council this year tend to agree that the time has come for at least some new and direct dialogue with Milstein and his representatives.  

Incumbent Councilman Robert Anderson, who has served on the council for the past eight years, said he’d like to see more of a “roll-out-the-red-carpet” approach to city development in general, NFR included. He said he thinks the potential is still there for NFR to do some great things and believes what is needed is more of an effort to find common ground and move things forward.  

“I would think that they are probably just tired of getting horse manure thrown in their face all the time, especially if there was a possibility of sitting down with them and doing something,” Anderson said.

Political newcomer Alicia Laible, the endorsed Democrat in the council race, said she would take a “friendly,” but “aggressive” approach to NFR. She agreed it’s time for the city to get more answers about the company’s progress, but she said the talks need to be conducted in a “professional” manner.

“We need to sit down at the table with them and see what are our barriers here, what are our challenges moving forward,” Laible said. “There’s a lot of land there. A lot of things that could be developed. A lot of jobs waiting to happen. What do we need to do to get that ball rolling? I really look forward to sitting down with them and working with them. I think someone needs to ask them questions. Why isn’t this happening? What is the problem here?”

Former councilman Glenn Choolokian, a registered Democrat who, like Anderson, has been endorsed by the Niagara Falls Republican Party committee, said he’d like to see more discussions between NFR and the city moving forward. Choolokian said he met with officials from the company and reviewed plans for potential projects when he was a councilman and believes NFR will one day produce. He noted that the company has demolished many abandoned, derelict properties within its development footprint over the years and continues to pay taxes on the property it owns.

 “I don’t think NFR wants to sit on empty properties,” Choolokian said. “I think the city needs to get involved and say ‘what do you want to do?’ ”

Contact Mark Scheer at 282-2311, ext. 2250.