| Niagara Falls State of the City Address |
Page 1 of 7 State of the City Address by Mayor Paul A. Dyster January 29th, 2009Good evening, friends and fellow citizens.We gather at a time of national peril and promise. Peril, because at every turn we hear talk of bankruptcies and layoffs, foreclosures and bailouts, and hard times into an indefinite and uncertain future. But also, promise, because we have a new president who inspires hope and confidence –confidence based on the knowledge that, as a nation, we seem to do our best work under pressure. Hopefully, that will be true for our city as well. We read the papers and watch the news. We wait and wonder: what will become of Niagara Falls, a city that seems to rest permanently on the brink of possibility? Can we take this fragile community of ours and strengthen it, and renew it, and leave it to the next generation better than we found it, in spite of the economic challenges our city and nation face today? To answer this question we need to answer two more: What is the state of our city, today? And what do we hope for our city, tomorrow? I will try to address these questions tonight. And I want to thank all of you for being here to share in the conversation. In a special way, I welcome the members of the City Council: Chairman Chris Robins, Councilman Bob Anderson, Councilman Steve Fournier, Councilman Sam Fruscione, and Councilman Charles Walker. Thank you for your ongoing cooperation and for your service to our city. I also want to welcome and introduce the members of our administration: City Administrator Donna Owens, Police Superintendent John Chella, Fire Chief Bill Mackay, City Controller Maria Brown, Corporation Counsel Craig Johnson, Economic Development Director Peter Kay, Public Works Director Dave Kinney, City Clerk Carol Antonucci, Personnel Director Joyce Mardon-Serianni, Community Development Director Bob Antonucci, Building Commissioner Guy Bax, Management Information Services Lead Engineer John Cahill, Purchasing Agent Dean Spring, City Assessor Dom Penale, and Donna Winstanley, confidential secretary to the mayor. These individuals, and many more equally- dedicated individuals in every city department, are working hard every day to fulfill the promise of our city. Above all, I welcome you, the people – residents, the business community, public and private sector workers, block club members and yes, even those of you best described as "community organizers" (your stock has certainly risen in recent weeks!)– and I thank for your faith in the City of Niagara Falls. Tonight, I hope to avoid the tricks and temptations that have become the tools of the trade for too many politicians. You're smart enough to know that our city does not yet rise to the level of our highest ambitions. We want it cleaner, greener and more prosperous. We're not there yet. Instead, our city is a work in progress, a journey unfinished, a masterpiece painting where many of the brushstrokes are yet to be applied. While our work may be incomplete, make no mistake: we have made a good beginning. The single greatest change is a shift in perspective. For too long, city government was an exercise in management-by-crisis. Our leaders lurched from one bad situation to another, trying just to stay afloat. But how often did we look beyond the horizon to a better vision of things to come? We cannot survive forever without a vision. I remind you of Proverbs 29:18: "Where there is no vision, the people perish." If you are not into scripture, here's how Yogi Berra put it: "If you don't know where you're going, you might end up somewhere else." That's why we're committed to work with the Council to pass our comprehensive plan this year. Tonight, as we trace the contours of the past year, and sketch a portrait of an uncertain but hopeful future, I'll try to pinpoint where we're going as a city. I call that vision "Five by Five," because it includes five major goals, and five major partnerships necessary to achieve them. The goals are challenging. So they will require the work, faith and cooperation of five different groups of people: elected officials at all levels of government; city employees; community organizations such as block clubs and nonprofit organizations; the business community; and, of course, the residents of our city. |