220525 Protest 1
James Neiss/staff photographer
Niagara Falls, NY - Paul Wolf, President of the NY Coalition for Open Government and resident James Abbondanza speak with media about the protest against closed door meetings at City Hall.

A protest has been planned for May 25th at 5:15 at the front of Niagara Falls City Hall 745 Main Street (14302).

Various local groups and individuals are protesting the special meetings frequently being called by the mayor that do not include a chance for the public to be heard on agenda items and votes, as well as the City Council changing their meeting schedules from 2 per month to 1 per month.

Normal City Council meetings do allow public input and have now been cut in half. The justification for this change was that there was not enough business to conduct to warrant two meetings per month. However, directly after this change the mayor called yet another special meetings with 18 agenda items that should have been dealt with at a normal council meeting. The mayor is often absent to council meetings, thus avoiding any chance for the public to speak to him.

Special meetings should be reserved for emergency items and the mayor is abusing this to conduct regular city business without public input.

I am attaching info on the protest as well as a recent letter from the NY Coalition for Open Government that was sent to Council.

If you are interested in covering this story, please reach out to Paul Wolf or myself - Info below.

Thank you.

Paul Wolf : (716) 435-4976
James Abbondanza : (716) 316-2464 or email james@eveneye.com