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By: Chris Voccio

Niagara Falls City Councilman

In May of 2017, I announced my candidacy for the Niagara Falls City Council, running on a record of success in the private sector and a commitment to fiscal responsibility in the public sector. In November of that year, voters elected me to the Council, a four year term that ends this December 31st.

Today I announce I’m seeking re-election to the Council. The city is riddled with challenges, and COVID-19 has not helped matters, so some may ask why I would want to serve for four more years, and why voters should consider re-electing me.

While I recognize our challenges are vast, I continue to be bullish on Niagara Falls. We didn’t get to this unfortunate position of stagnation overnight, and it will take time to turn things around, but I do believe we can move in the right direction with the right people in place. And I believe I’m one of those people.

Why should you consider voting for me? I am…

• The ONLY Councilman who voted against bad budgets, budgets that squeezed taxpayers but imposed no sacrifice on the part of city government.
• The ONLY current Councilman who voted against the garbage fee, which once again forced taxpayers to sacrifice while city government spending continued unabated.
• The ONLY Councilman to give himself a 10% pay cut on day one, as part of my 2017 “10-5 Plan” campaign pledge.
• The ONLY Councilman to vote against contracts that were bad deals for taxpayers in my first two years on the Council.
• I support law enforcement but I also believe in common sense management practices and good fiscal discipline. We simply can’t continue The Racket which escalates our expenses and makes good government unaffordable.
• In short, I’m a fiscal watchdog and a voice for taxpayers.

There will be many candidates on the ballot and I’m certain all of them will express love for Niagara Falls and genuinely care about our future.

But I’ll be the ONLY candidate on the ballot who has a proven track record in both the private sector AND in local government, and I’ll also have the distinction of being the candidate that the political machine maligns with misleading robocalls, mailers and other tactics.

On that note, I will once again self-fund my campaign so I remain beholden to no one. I’m only beholden to you, the Niagara Falls electorate.

I’ll also once again walk across the entire city, through every ward, through every district, down every street, knocking on doors and meeting with citizens. My campaign will be grassroots oriented, and I look forward to meeting as many people as possible. Remember, I knocked on doors to hear from voters in 2019 when I wasn’t even on the ballot. It’s something I enjoy doing.

The political machine, backed by The Racket, will do its best to scare you and try to get you to vote against me. They’ll fund all sorts of misleading attacks. They don’t want me on the Council, and it will be interesting to see just who they do want on the Council.

As for me, I’ll continue to stand up for taxpayers. I’ll continue to stand up for you.

Chris Voccio is a Niagara Falls City Councilman and can be reached at 716-696-0086 or [email protected]. Subscribe to his blog at www.ChrisVoccio.com.