Assemblyman Ceretto, Mayor Dyster Retaliate, Withhold Tesla funding to punish Reporter writer
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Niagara Reporter- · October 13, 2016
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Last night with the Reporter’s deadline rapidly approaching, a veritable bombshell was dropped on us, courtesy of the Buffalo News.
A “former Ceretto employee” blew the whistle on illegal activities that allegedly took place in Assemblyman John Ceretto’s office which included, according to the breaking News story, campaign meetings held in the Assemblyman’s office, where invitations to a fundraiser were allegedly created on government computer and printer and mailed using state postage, as well as the alleged use of an office phone to solicit campaign donors.
Talk about an October surprise.
It wasn’t that long ago that Congresswoman Louise Slaughter’s staffer Jane Schroeder had to resign after being accused of merely faxing a campaign rally notice from Slaughter’s Pine Avenue office. If the allegations are true, they may prove damaging to Assemblyman Ceretto’s future career prospects because by law, campaign activities must be strictly divorced from official government functions and resources.
Many of the more embarrassing revelations concern the apparently arbitrary methodology Ceretto and his staff employed when it came to parceling out member items, i.e. pork barrel spending.
Ceretto’s strategy, usually derived from Chief of Staff Robert E. Nichols’ advice as communicated through the leaked emails, was to use the earmarks to reward or punish communities such as Wheatfield, where it was perceived he had been snubbed by Supervisor Cliffe at a picnic, or to avoid perceptions which may have been considered injurious to his ultimate prospects for re-election, such as directing largesse to the city of Niagara Falls for something like an urban skateboard park as opposed to slathering it on the surrounding suburbs.
What really caught our attention, however, was an email from Nichols to staffer Lynn Neveu, spelling out the reason why a proposal by a grassroots non-profit group, Tesla at Niagara Museum, was not to receive any state aid from the Assemblyman’s office.
According to the News, “When Neveu suggested money for the Tesla Museum, Nichols replied, ‘Let’s try to avoid contributing any resources to anything that James Hufnagel is working on. He constantly criticizes John and the mayor.’ The reference was to Niagara Falls Mayor Paul B. (sic) Dyster. Hufnagel writes frequently for the Niagara Falls Reporter, a weekly tabloid that devotes much of its space to attacks on Dyster. The Tesla project wasn’t funded.”
Like the saying goes, this is why we can’t have nice things.
The political atmosphere of this city is toxic, crooked and despicable. We’ve been writing about it for over 15 years here at the Niagara Falls Reporter.
And now the truth, in black and white, is there for everyone to read.
Criticize the politicians, and be punished. It didn’t matter how worthy the Tesla Museum proposal was, it didn’t matter that the dozen other active members and numerous supporters of the Tesla Museum group invested time, money and effort trying to establish a potentially world-class tourist attraction downtown, making the community and the city a better place.
What mattered to politicians like Ceretto and Dyster is getting back at Jim Hufnagel and the “weekly tabloid”. Because they write bad things about us.
Fact is, I have never met Mr. Robert Nichols and do not know the man. Further, I was a peripheral member of the Tesla Museum organization, not even a member of its board of directors. At one of the first meetings, Assemblyman Ceretto attended and offered his support for our mission. We never heard from him again.
But apparently, at some point, he apprised his assistant, Rob Nichols, that I was a member of the Tesla group, because I’m not really sure how else he would have known.
You haven’t heard much lately from the Tesla Museum group because, frankly, it just ran out of gas. An impasse developed with the building owner, who understandably wanted money which the group was unable to raise.
Early on, the Niagara Falls National Heritage Area promised a $1500 grant for the new Tesla non-profit, to headlines in the Gazette and News, and an interpretive sign for the Adams Power Plant on Buffalo Avenue where Tesla worked his magic and the museum was to be located – they failed to deliver either.
Possibly an email directive similar to that issued by Ceretto’s Nichols, blackballing the Tesla group, was circulated among the board and staff at the Niagara Falls National Heritage Area, when they too discovered a writer for the Reporter was involved.
So keep on electing guys like Dyster and Ceretto. Wave and blow kisses at the tourists as they come and go after having spent all their money in Niagara Falls State Park. Have fun changing beds, folding sheets and running dishwashers at the new downtown box hotels. Pay through the nose for your electricity while NYPA thrives. Enjoy driving on your waterfront parkways and gawking at half million dollar works of “public art”.
But whatever you do, if you criticize the politicians, do it in whispers. Because if they hear you, they’ll get even.
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