The former Director of Administrative Services for the Niagara Falls Water Board, Jim Perry, will be running for one of the three open City Council seats later this year as an independent party candidate with the party, IMPACT- NIAGARA.

Perry, is a lifelong resident of Niagara Falls. He attended local schools, graduating from Trott Vocational High School with a vocational diploma in Industrial Electricity. After graduation, he went into the U.S. Army, serving during the Vietnam and post- Vietnam period with an Honorable Discharge in 1980. When he returned to Niagara Falls, in went to work for the City of Niagara Falls Water Department and with a partner opened a small business which was sold in 1999. After a short period with the City of Niagara Falls, James Perry seized the opportunity to go to work with The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company where he worked for the next 30 years. While working as an Operator, Perry attended local colleges, and worked his way up the ranks into an executive position with the corporation to become the Human Resources Manager.

In 2015 James M. Perry retired from The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. In early 2017 he was asked to help as the Director of Administrative Services for the Niagara Falls Water Board and secure a Labor Agreement for the organization. The unions and the organization had been deadlocked in contract talks for several years at that point. Within the first six months, all unions engaged in contract talks had come to agreements with the Water Board. Perry agreed to stay with the Water Board until he retired in August of 2020.

In the prepared statement to announce his candidacy Perry stated, “A major portion of those elected to office to serve the people of Niagara Falls are not meeting their responsibilities. I am not taking on this challenge because I have a big ego or because I want anything more than to make our city what it should be. Anywhere I have ever gone in the world, when I said I was from Niagara Falls people knew what I was talking about. It is a world class city. Look around you. Is that what you see? Is there anyone living in this city, that can say, ‘hey, come look at our city, we’re world class!’ When you drive down Cayuga Drive, how does that strike you? The evidence of corruption and incompetence is all around us. All you need do is look. How much of an impact will the millions of dollars that is due to us from Federal aid will actually go into something of substance? Maybe it will go into a few more projects we don’t need. I can no longer sit back and see this city continually destroyed by selfish and greedy people. I hope enough citizens are willing to take a stand with me.”

This party we have is dedicated to serving the people of our city. Our first goal will be to provide an open and honest dialog to build leadership with integrity. From there we will focus on rebuilding the city’s infrastructure, so all of our families can have a better Niagara Falls than the one left for us. As an independent party candidate, my team and I will be out collecting signatures from any registered voter regardless of party affiliation. We need a limited number of active registered voters to get authorization to be on the ballet.

If you are not satisfied with what is going on in this city, or the candidates your party is endorsing, haven’t signed any other petition, regardless of what party you are in, we want you to help us. We will be out collecting signatures within the next few weeks. If we have not contacted you, please contact me with your name address and phone number via email at [email protected] and either I or a team member will come to see you prior to April 12, 2021. We want to connect to those who are with us!