Published: October 12, 2008 09:51 pm            

CHRISTY: Reform or common sense?

We are living in an historic time. That goes without saying as we experience a presidential election that contains an African-American candidate and a female candidate, and as we watch the world economic meltdown that exceeds anything that happened in the 1930s. But what is also historic is that we may be entering a time when government secrecy, Gestapo-like authoritarian control and unchecked spending may finally be on the way out. There may be small, imperceptible cracks in the glass house of local government.

Those are hard words to use in a country as great as America, or a county as small as Niagara, but these are hard times. If we don’t change now, then official submission to authoritarian rule awaits.

An audit of the Niagara Falls School District shows gross mismanagement on the part of one of the most authoritarian public figures in Niagara County political history, Carmen Granto. The fact that he overpaid 272 employees as well as himself camouflages the fact that he has perhaps the most generous contract of any school superintendent anywhere in the state. It’s a contract that allows him plenty of free time to operate a consulting business on the side, which, by his own admission, brings him a larger personal income than his six-figure school administrator’s salary.

Does it take reform to spot these gross mistakes by the school board of Niagara Falls, or should it just take common sense to figure out that a school superintendent — especially a school superintendent from a poor, dying city school district — should devote full time to the job? Do we need to remind ourselves that the FBI is investigating ex-State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, who apparently had so much free time that he started a private consulting business out of his house? Since when did getting paid a full-time salary in government become the starting point for entrepreneurialism?

But here’s the real problem with this scenario: We need an audit by the state comptroller, or an investigation from the FBI, in order to learn anything about how local government operates. Going to a legislative meeting, or asking questions at a public forum or, God forbid, asking for a copy of anything from your local government has become a degrading experience.

Have you ever tried getting even the simplest of documents from a local government? It’s nearly impossible. Personally, I’ve been trying to get a copy of the Lockport city budget for 2008 for two weeks. First stop, the City Council president. He seemed like he’d seen the light lately, might become a “reformer.” Nope. He hasn’t found the time to look for a copy yet.

Next attempt, the e-mail address for the City Clerk at elockport.com. After five days I got a response that basically said “call someone else.” When I persisted — via e-mail — I was told the document was available for viewing inside the office, or for purchase for $19.25. Third attempt, I asked a friend of mine — a Lockport resident — to actually go to City Hall and request a copy. This guy is disabled (legally blind), a veteran, and just one of your everyday walking wounded taxpayers. He was also told, in person, he couldn’t get a copy either (he couldn’t read, being legally blind, and didn’t have $16 in his pocket).

I know the logic of the argument. If we go giving everyone in the entire world a copy of the budget, it would bankrupt the city, right? We can’t be giving away stuff like that. They must get at least two requests a year for a copy of the budget. It would be madness to make a copy.

I’ve also asked for a copy of the Niagara Falls School District budget in the past. I was no disabled vet from the city, but I thought maybe I could ask some people in the know to give me a copy. So I asked elected county Legislator Jason Murgia to get me a copy, seeing as he was a county legislator, had taken a public vote to allow such budgets to be uploaded and viewed publicly on FAIR Government and was a school district employee in addition to running the family restaurant business on the side.

The first budget Murgia secured was seven pages long and resembled a coloring book my kids get at the dentist’s office. So we tried again. Second attempt at having an insider get a copy of the budget produced a 20-page document, but clearly not the full, detailed budget I was seeking. I never did bother a third attempt. Again, it becomes a degrading experience.

We’ve got an historic opportunity to make changes in Niagara County, and carry those changes nationwide. From the worst can come the best. It happens in sports all the time. We have the highest taxes, worst economy, most government and highest-paid elected officials in the country. Government is a little like golf in that regard — the lowest scores are better. It’s time to stop the insanity of hiding everything, hoping no one will notice. We will start asking, and continue asking, until we all understand how things work around here.

The price of negligence on our part has become too great. The price of change is now being calculated. Stay tuned.

Tom Christy is the founder of FAIR Government, a non-political and non-editorial educational foundation dealing with local government issues. www.fair-government.org. He encourages communication and can be reached via e-mail at aim1986@mac.com.

        

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