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Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Democratic council candidates discuss city issues
The six candidates running in this year's Democratic primary for the Niagara Falls City Council were asked Tuesday night what they viewed as the city's biggest problems and how they would try to address them if they were elected to public office. Their answers during a candidates' forum held at Bloneva Bond Elementary School reflected many of the same concerns city residents and business owners have been voicing in the Falls for many, many years. The candidates' short list of problems included poor roads, failing infrastructure, a general lack of cleanliness citywide, job scarcity and not enough recreational outlets for local youth. Questions were posed to the candidates by representatives from the sponsors of the event, including the Niagara Gazette and the Niagara Falls NAACP. Responses to the question about the city's biggest problems are summed up below in the order in which the candidates were asked. Candidate Sylvana Rahman named infrastructure as the city's top concern, specifically citing the condition of local roads and many abandoned buildings across the Falls. Rahman said she viewed a lack of job opportunities and outlets for the city's youth as close runner-ups. If elected, she said she would work to find ways to improve the local job market for residents of all ages and to build programming that would better respond to the needs of the city's young people. 'We need more opportunities, more jobs so that the people of Niagara Falls can actually not live paycheck to paycheck,' she said. 'They are struggling to pay rent. Most of them are on welfare because they don't have the opportunities to thrive here. We need more job opportunities. We need more support for the adults and for the youth.' Realtor Noah Munoz agreed. He said the city's $100 million annual budget is not enough to sustain Niagara Falls and all of its residents and that the city needs economic growth, citing specific areas that included clean energy, logistics, tech and manufacturing. If elected, Munoz said he would work with the city school district to increase student involvement in trades and unionized work. As for tourism, he said the city could use more options to keep people visiting longer, referencing the possibility of adding attractions like indoor water parks or holding events such as winter festivals. 'We cannot build a strong city on a three-month tourist season,' he said. 'If we are a tourist city, we need year-round tourism.' Munoz said he also believes the city must do more to assist small business owners and to support the redevelopment — not the tearing down — of the existing housing stock by offering grants and other forms of incentives. 'We shouldn't be knocking houses down,' he said. 'We should be saving them and building new homes.' Donta Myles — the lone incumbent in the field of the six Democratic candidates — said he believes the city's biggest problem remains its infrastructure, including 'our streets, our trees, our sidewalks, the things that deal with our quality of life.' Myles said part of that problem involves what he views as a lack of attention for what he described as 'neglected portions' of the city. 'Our city is only as strong as our weakest link so we can't continuously neglect certain portions of our city and think that our city is going to grow,' he said. Also, Myles said he believes it's important to provide alternatives for the city's youth, referencing a North End community center that was torn down and not replaced years ago and the loss of activities at the former YMCA on Portage Road that has been operated as a homeless shelter for men for many years. 'We never reinvested a dime back into those spaces for those kids to actually thrive so we leave them to their own devices and then what happens? They end up doing things that they may not have any business doing, but they don't have other alternatives,' he said. He advocated for making sure the city spends the tax dollars it has wisely for the betterment of the city as a whole and not just certain parts of the Falls. 'That's what I'll always be a champion for, to make sure we are being fiscally responsible, to make sure that we are spending monies in the right way and asking all the questions that need to be asked and not just voting 'yes' for anything.' Former city employee Bridgette Myles cited cleanliness as the city's main concern. 'Before we can invite anyone into the city, before we can invite investors and just for our own well-being and quality of life, we need to clean the city up,' she said. She also said more attention is needed for the city's streets and its many potholes. On day one, if elected, she said she would create a committee of professionals, including former city DPW chief Dave Kinney, to discuss ways to improve the city's process for repairing and maintaining its roads and infrastructure. 'I hit a pothole the other day and I had to get out just to make sure my tire was still attached,' she said. Bridgette Myles said she is also concerned about job creation. 'In order to do that, just to circle back, we have to clean up the city first,' she said. First-time candidate Michia Lee agreed the city needs more jobs because having quality jobs available 'changes the mentality of people' and help lower poverty. 'It will lower the crime rate. It will also give us a better quality of life. Crime is due to poverty,' she said. She said residents also need improved conditions in city neighborhoods and more, especially for young people, to do. 'There's a lot of crime and that's because people are bored,' she added. 'There's not anything to do. Look around. It's just abandoned. It's neglected. It just needs to be cleaned up.' John Kinney, who spent 35 years working for the city, including a stint as Department of Public Works director under current Mayor Robert Restaino, said quality of life is the biggest thing the city has been facing for quite some time. 'There is an infrastructure problem. For someone that's worked for the city for 35 years and worked on the street, I know it firsthand,' he said. Kinney said the city has made changes in recent years to its approach to road repair, which he said has resulted in more in-depth road reconstruction instead of surface repairs that do not last as long. 'We used to do 30, 40 streets, mill down an inch and overlay it and it looked pretty, but it only looked pretty for a year or two years and the street crumbled,' he said. 'We're getting quality now instead of quantity,' he added. 'Those are the things the city council needs to work with the administration to continue to do.' Similarly, Kinney said there are positive programs involving the city's youth but that they need to be promoted better, especially those involving city schools. 'There is some stuff out there. We need to promote it better. We need to promote our youth. We need to promote the school's program every summer that they've had. We need to work together.' The six candidates are vying for three open slots as the Democratic council candidates who will appear on the ballot for the November general election. The three top vote-getters in the primary will face three Republican candidates, including incumbent Councilman David Zajac, former Falls lawmaker Vincent Cauley and political newcomer Tanya Barone in the general election. Former Falls Councilman John Accardo has also qualified to appear on the general election ballot for city council as a Conservative Party candidate. Residents who are registered as Democrats in the City of Niagara Falls are eligible to vote in the Democratic primary. Early voting is now open. Primary election day is Tuesday.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democratic city council forum on June 17
In the lead-up to the June 24 primary election, the Niagara Gazette and Niagara Falls NAACP are hosting a forum for the Democratic candidates in the Niagara Falls City Council race. The forum is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 17 at Bloneva Bond Primary School, 2513 Niagara St. The six Democratic candidates for council have been invited and include: • John Kinney Jr. • Michia Lee • Noah Munoz • Bridgette Myles • Donta Myles • Sylvana Rahman. Munoz, Kinney and Bridgette Myles have received backing from both the city and county Democrats. There are three open seats on the city council this election cycle. Candidates in attendance at June 17's forum will be questioned by representatives from the debate partners. There are currently no plans to take questions from the audience during the forum. City residents are urged to send in their questions prior to the event to Gazette managing editor Matt Winterhalter at The forum is expected to last from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m.
