NIAGARA FALLS: Mediator called for union negotiations

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October 5, 2006

Anello says he has been pushing for union changes as LaSalle residents air concerns over city salaries, potholes and taxes

By Denise Jewell The Niagara Gazette Thu Oct 05, 2006, 11:44 PM EDT

City managers and union workers are meeting with a mediator called in to address a stalled union negotiations that have drawn on for more than two years, Mayor Vince Anello said Thursday.

Anello told more than 60 LaSalle residents who attended a Gazette community meeting at Prince of Peace School Thursday night that he feels as though he has been “standing alone” during the lengthy negotiations over contracts that have already expired.

“There were 30 things that I tried to change with each contract for public safety,” Anello said. “The unions thought it was too much.”

Anello made the comments in response to questions from LaSalle residents about benefits and salaries for city workers that in some cases have risen above $100,000 with overtime.

The community meeting was the first of a series of town hall-style meetings sponsored by the Gazette as part of its Beautify Niagara program.

Councilmen Lewis “Babe” Rotella, Sam Fruscione and Robert Anderson Jr. also attended the event to answer questions, as well as City Assessor Dominic Penale Jr. and Youth Services Director Mario Tonellatto.

Resident Gloria Strangio wanted to know why the city has “so many captains” in its Fire Department.

Several residents said they were surprised that the city is required by union contract to have one fire captain for every two or three firefighters who man a piece of firefighting equipment during one shift.

Anello told the residents that the captains serve as foreman for each shift.

Anello said he has also been trying to address a worker provision that gives some workers 15 minutes each day to get ready for work that is paid at an overtime rate.

However, he said he has received little support from citizens when he tried to reduce the city expenses like firefighter overtime by taking firefighting equipment offline.

“I’m trying real hard to reduce the number of captains,” Anello said. “You don’t know the hell I go through everyday just on that issue in negotiations.”

Anello shunned suggestions from residents that the city should seek a control board so that it could freeze union contracts.

Residents at the meeting expressed a variety of concerns — from potholes to taxes — that they want to see addressed.

Several 74th Street residents wanted to know why their street hasn’t been repaved.

“You get your money; we get nothing but garbage collection,” said 74th Street resident Vera MacDonald. “I would like to see something done about our street.”

MacDonald said the section of the street between Frontier Avenue and Girard Avenue hasn’t been repaved since she moved into the neighborhood in 1961. At the time, MacDonald said, residents had paid to have the road paved five years earlier.

“There are some potholes large enough to swallow economy-sized cars,” said Maribeth Adkins, a 90th Street resident who said she has seen four water main breaks on her street since January.

Tonellatto took down the street information and said the Department of Public Works would check into each neighborhood complaint.

LaSalle residents, who have been told their properties will be re-evaluated this year by city assessors, also asked questions about the city’s annual reassessment program.

“What reassessment is supposed to do is to distribute the taxes across the residents equally,” said Joseph Muscarella, regional director of the state’s Office of Real Property Services in Batavia, who attended the meeting to answer residents’ questions. “So everybody gets their share.”

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