Of course, I can't name every employee of our city, but hundreds of them work every day to provide the services that all of us count on, from plowing the streets when it snows to answering the 911 calls when we citizens are in danger–and sometimes walking into a hail of buckshot in the process.  I have very positive feelings for all my city employees–I think you do too.  Let's give all our city employees a round of applause for the great job they did for us in 2009.

 And to all of you who live here, do business here, volunteer here and truly take ownership of this community, I welcome you and thank you.  You're a big part of the team, too.

 Last year, I presented my vision for Niagara Falls in terms of "Five By Five" – five major goals requiring the commitment of five groups of partners: elected officials; city employees; community organizations; the business community; and city residents.  Now I'll give you an update on how we did.

 The first goal we set was to have a competent, honest city government.  In a city whose optimism and energy have been drained by corruption, I pledged from the earliest days of my administration to run a scandal-free government.  On July 17, that pledge was put to the test.

 By now, you know the story of federal agents arriving at City Hall to seize files and computers from the Department of Inspections related to possible improper relationships with a prominent local contractor.  While I was saddened by the allegations, I welcomed the investigation.  I immediately put three employees on leave, proposed a restructuring of the department (which has now been completed with help from the Block Clubs and City Council), and ordered full cooperation with the FBI.  To me, full cooperation means that we have to give the FBI the time it needs to complete the investigation.  And common sense tells me that I should try to avoid bringing those inspectors back on the job until their names are cleared.  That's why I urged the City Council to fund two temporary inspector positions.  We can't afford for our economic development initiatives to lose momentum for a lack of inspectors.  We have the money.  The question is, do we have the will?  We're not there yet, but I'm going to keep going back to the Council until we have a way forward that is acceptable to them but does not compromise the progress we've made in cleaning up our City's image.

 And whatever, the department, board or commission, I pledge to you that whenever I have the chance to appoint an individual to a position of public trust, I will appoint based on qualifications and integrity, not any political calculation.

1  NEXT   3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10