Why was there no public hearing on 2016 budget?

The Niagara Falls Reporter recently featured a cover story detailing how the city council approved the 2016 budget in a 4-0 council vote on November 17 at the close of a budget work session.

That budget, along with seven as yet to be disclosed council budget amendments, moved to the Mayor Paul A. Dyster who signed and authorized it.

We contacted former councilman Sam Fruscione, who served as council chairman several times in his eight years on the council.

Fruscione told us that he’d never seen the city budget proceed to passage like this during his two council terms.

“There should have been a formal public hearing where the proposed budget was presented before it was passed by the council,” Fruscione told us.

Was the city charter violated by the passage of the 2016 budget?

If so it wouldn’t be the first time.

Every day Mayor Dyster does not hire a city engineer he’s in violation of the charter.  He fired City Engineer Robert Curtis back in 2008 then let the court house run up in cost.

Since then he has not been able to find and/or keep an engineer on staff. Every day the mayor declines  – for whatever reason – to hire an engineer he is in violation of the city charter.

Last year when Mayor Dyster delivered the budget 37 days late he was in violation of the charter for each of those 37 days.

The council has hired outside legal counsel, Robert Restaino for the past two years, to study and consolidate conflicting provisions in the city charter.

Meanwhile the council has stood by as it is repeatedly violated.

The council owes residents an explanation as to why the budget was passed without a public hearing.

As for the council’s seven budget amendments, the council should reveal those seven resolutions immediately.