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Seth Piccirillo, the director of Community Development, announced last week he is running for Mayor of Niagara Falls.
His announcement came as no surprise to readers of the Reporter; we have mentioned for weeks that he planned to run.
Evidently it did come as a surprise to his boss, Mayor Paul Dyster.
Or at least the timing of the announcement came as a surprise.
A source at city hall told us that Dyster summoned his young employee and roundly scolded him for announcing he was running for mayor without getting permission from him first.
“You could hear the mayor yelling at Seth from the corridors, he was that angry,” our source said. “It is only fair, after all. Seth works for the mayor who can fire him at will. You would think he would tell his boss first that he plans to run for his job.”
The mayor may have been upset partly since his wife has not definitely ruled out him running for a 4th term as mayor – which would mean Seth would have to back down – or risk losing his job.
If Seth does run, there are details to be worked out – If Dyster chooses to step aside and let youth take the helm – like what present department heads would be kept and who would be fired should Seth win.
And what promises for raises to various city hall employees need to be made in order to ensure they will support his candidacy. There is a lot of patronage and it is no secret Seth has clashed with several of Dyster’s inner circle – usually with Seth doing much of the yelling.
Several people in city hall found it refreshing that Seth – who is a screamer himself – was on the receiving end of a hearty lambasting by the mayor.
Meantime, Seth has informed us and the public that he does not think much of the Niagara Reporter.
In the coming weeks, we will be giving him ample opportunity to present his plans, his hopes, as well as a complete airing of his beef with the Reporter, if he so chooses.
We will also review his record including his highly vaunted plan to pay people to live in Niagara Falls, his renovation work for Isaiah 61, his painting of fire hydrants and abandoned properties and other schemes.
We will look at how many people relocated to Niagara Falls and how much that cost; how many houses were actually renovated and how that turned out; and how the fire department feels about having their red and yellow coded fire hydrants painted into leprechaun and fairies. We will do this so people can judge Seth by a metric other than that he will merely continue in Dyster’s footsteps.
That is if Mayor Dyster even lets him run for office.
Stay tuned.