Kimble: No Water Means No Residency for Janese

Carrying Republicans’ water? Ted Janese claims he lives without it.

Renae Kimble knows better.

How does a man live in a house without having a water bill? Even if he imports bottled water for drinking and forgoes bathing, he still has to have a bathroom, or does he?

The chairman of the Niagara Falls Water Board, under fire for the last three months for allegedly violating the board’s residency bylaws, was apparently living without water at his city address, according to records obtained by a fellow board member.

Former County Legislator Renae Kimble, and current member of the Niagara Falls Water Board, says no water, along with previous disclosures of no food or furniture at the Point Avenue address listed by Board Chairman Ted Janese, is clear proof he hasn’t been living there, and he should be removed and his votes from last October should be invalidated.

Many decisions during that period came on 3 – 2 votes, including the six percent rate increase last November as part of the budget, and the appointment of the husband of a GOP county lawmaker to the $70,000 job as director of administrative services.

Kimble, in a letter dated Feb. 15 to the water board counsel, John Ottaviano, says records show that “from October 10, 2012 through January 7, 2013, the property at 8825 Point Avenue, the address Mr. Janese claims to have a physical presence within the City of Niagara Falls, had no measurable water consumption based upon the same water meter readings.”

In her letter, Kimble refers to an email from Janese in December to Ottaviano in which he maintained “that his Niagara Falls residence was suitable for living yet apparently he has not consumed any water since October 2012.

The cupboards are completely void of any food. There is no refrigerator. There is no furniture for sitting in living areas and there are no appliances.”

In her letter, Kimble states “clearly, the proof I have presented shows that Mr. Janese’s membership on the Niagara Falls Water Board was forfeited immediately upon termination of his residence in Niagara Falls, as established by the lack of his physical presence at 8825 Pointe Avenue and his documented lack of use of water at that address since October 2012.”

Kimble maintains all votes taken by Janese should be voided because of his violation of the residency bylaws. We have previously reported that Janese listed the Lewiston address on the September 2012 roster of the Niagara County GOP Executive Committee.

According to the bylaws of the Water Board, at least three of the five members “shall be a resident of the City of Niagara Falls” and any member who does not meet that requirement “shall forfeit his/her membership upon termination of residency in the City of Niagara Falls.”

The Niagara Falls Reporter has calls in to both Ottaviano and Janese, but neither had responded by press time. Ottaviano, a prominent Niagara County Republican attorney, has previously upheld Janese’s residency claims, citing records including his federal tax return and a utility bill. It may not have been the water bill, based on the records he now has, courtesy of Kimble.

The GOP connections run deep in this flap as Janese cast the deciding vote in the appointment of Roger Lance, husband of Republican County Legislator Kathryn Lance, to the plum job as the board’s director of administrative services. The appointment was reportedly orchestrated by powerful GOP State Sen. George Maziarz, although Maziarz has denied any involvement.